The Counselor- I Hated it

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Raylinds, Feb 27, 2014.

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  1. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    I am pretty tolerant of movies, and anything that is even mildly entertaining is usually okay in my book, but I would really love to get the money back that I paid for the BD, and the 2+ hours I wasted on this stinker. i usually avoid making negative posts, but I am hoping to save others from the time and money wasted.

    It is too long, the dialogue is unintentionally laughable, and there are scenes that have absolutely no point. The writer really likes to imagine that he has some profound philosophical statements to make, but they make no senses and just sounds like pompous BS from someone who just likes to hear themselves talk.

    There are also scenes of somewhat kinky intimacy that just have no reason to be in the film. I am no prude, but I felt like a voyeur in the room and it made me uncomfortable, simply because the scene had no purpose and seemed gratuitous.

    How did others feel about this?
     
  2. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    It has a 34% rating on rotten tomatoes.com, so it seems like lots of folks agree with you. I haven't seen it.
     
  3. JulesDassin

    JulesDassin Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    monterey,ca.usa
    skip the first 15 minutes the husband and wife love scene is a complete waste of time , in fact if you skip all the scenes with Penelope Cruz except her penultimate scene you would have a better movie nothing against Penelope except her character is boring .
     
  4. Maggie

    Maggie like a walking, talking art show

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I was under the impression this is widely considered a disaster. It shows that Cormac McCarthy doesn't understand cinema...and, unfortunately, we already knew that Ridley Scott, brilliant visual stylist that he is, is totally at the mercy of his screenplays. He just can't tell good writing from bad, and is attracted to projects because of the ideas/concepts they contain rather than their substance or quality. Sad thing to say, because he's made some of my favorite movies. Spielberg has some of the same problems btw (although his instincts are better than Scott's).
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2014
  5. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I haven't seen it yet, but what I do hate is the fact that, as far as I know, only the Blu-ray contains the extended director's cut... we DVD buyers are stuck with the shorter theatrical version. Booo-urns!! :mad:
     
  6. Mark Nelson

    Mark Nelson Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    It's pretty bad. The windshield scene is highly memorable, for all the right and wrong reasons.

    "Truth has no temperature."
     
  7. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    the best part of the windshield scene is javiar bardem's face.

    the movie stinks by the way.
     
  8. Bryan

    Bryan Starman Jr.

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    Wait!

    Are there steamy sex scenes involving Penelope Cruz in this??

    Because that alone would make it watchable in my mind...
     
    tonyc likes this.
  9. progrocker71

    progrocker71 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    The trailer didn't make me want to run out and see the movie, then all the bad reviews lowered my interest even more. Possibly one day when it shows up on Netflix or Amazon Prime I'll give it a shot.

    I agree with the previous statement that Scott's films seem to live and die on the strength of the screenplay.
     
  10. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Trailer sucked. But I've been wrong before.
     
  11. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I've not run my review yet, but it includes a comment that the movie is such a disaster that it makes a sex scene between Michael Fassbender and Penelope Cruz BORING.

    Nothing remotely sexy/steamy in this movie. I totally agree with the comments about the awful dialogue - McCarthy's prose might work in novels but NOT in movies, at least not as depicted here.

    The entire movie's packed with long, boring soliloquies about... nothing, as far as I can tell. Lots of stilted, artficial, pseudo-intellectual monologues that go nowhere.

    Scott does nothing to make it interesting, and the actors all look like they're trying so hard not to laugh at the awful dialogue that they have no room to actually act.

    Terrible movie!
     
    Mark Nelson likes this.
  12. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Be happy you can't see the extended cut - it just makes a bad movie even worse! :help:
     
  13. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Thanks for the warning, I'll take it off my list, which being a Scott film, is a shame.
     
  14. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I didn't think it was great, but it certainly was dark, as just about everything of McCarthy's is that I've read. (Blood Meridian is probably one of the most disturbing books I've ever read and that has never been made into a film despite some attempts at doing so).
    The notion that actions have consequences is driven home with a stake into the gut in this picture.I did think Bardem's performance was almost amateurish- I wondered whether he was deliberately acting like a space cadet; I'm not a huge Cameron Diaz fan but she was totally ruthless; nice bit of irony on the buying end in Chicago, no?
    And, fwiw, that was a pretty nice Brough motorcycle* mounted indoors in oue of the scenes as backdrop- kind of interesting locations/sets.
    Though it was not without flaws, overall I found the film disturbing and not a waste of my time.
    I also remember my reaction the first time I saw Bladerunner on initial theatrical release- no, I'm not comparing this film to that one on the merits- but I really found the 'noir' voice-over to be hokey. Obviously, later viewings, and different 'cuts', changed my view of that film.
    _____________________________________________
    *Highly collectible vintage bike- same one that T.E.Lawrence rode to his death.
     
    agentalbert and darkmass like this.
  15. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    This review is spot on! i can't wait to read the full one.
     
  16. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Thanks! You got all the highlights already, though! :laugh:

    Oh, I'll add this: what's with all the "Britishisms" used by characters? "Bloody" and "chaps" used in the Brit way, "knickers", and some others I can't recall. Most of the movie takes place in Mexico and Texas - why do all the characters talk like they're from England???
     
  17. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    I finally got round to seeing this on DVD. What a god-awful, over-complicated, pessimistic, boring, vile film it is.
    A shame for Fassbinder who put in some very powerful performances.
     
  18. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    If you saw it on DVD, then you've only seen the theatrical version.... there's a longer cut which is (ridiculously) only available on BR.
     
  19. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I vote for the English (and acting) -challenged combo of Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz turning McCarthy's dialogue into silliness.
     
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