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Honestly, when I first heard the news that Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) was teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio to make an action blockbuster, my expectations were all over the place. On one hand, we’re talking about the director behind There Will Be Blood and The Master—the genius obsessed with details and deeply broken characters. On the other hand, you’ve got Leo, who’s been getting super picky with his roles lately. The result? One Battle After Another isn’t just your run-of-the-mill, mindless action flick. It’s a crazy, loud, poetic "culture war caper" that still has a profoundly deep soul about how people deal with the legacy of their past failures.
The story itself is a (very) loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Vineland. We follow "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun (DiCaprio), a former member of a 60s radical revolutionary group called "French 75." He used to be an idealist, but now? He’s just a paranoid stoner dad living in Baktan Cross, California, with his teenage daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). The plot really hits the gas when his archnemesis from the past, Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), comes back to round up the remaining members of French 75. Pat is forced out of his comfortable little hiding spot to face the reality that the war he thought was over just shape-shifted into something else.
What blew my mind the most is how PTA builds his character’s inner journey right in the middle of all the action chaos. Leo’s Pat Calhoun isn't your cool, badass, John Wick-type hero. Quite the opposite, he’s a bumbling hero—clumsy, constantly messing up, and honestly, kind of a coward. Leo here reminds me of Buster Keaton’s physical comedy charm, but wrapped up in this loser-trying-to-be-a-hero vibe. His transformation from a guy gaslighting himself with drugs to forget the past, into a father who actually has to deal with the bitter truth, is seriously emotional. We're shown how political trauma can be passed down to the kids, and how Willa has to carry the burden of her parents' failed idealism.
But, this movie definitely isn't for everyone. Clocking in at almost three hours, One Battle After Another has pacing that is sometimes intentionally messy to build up the same confusion the characters are experiencing. Sean Penn as the villain also feels incredibly caricatured—he’s the literal embodiment of toxic masculinity and authoritarianism, and he hates the "lefties" so much that he ends up looking ridiculous. But hey, that’s the point. This film is a biting satire about a divided America, and about how ideology is often just a shield for personal vendettas.
Ultimately, One Battle After Another is proof that PTA can make a "commercial" movie without losing his identity as an auteur director. It’s a movie about how we can’t truly run away from history, and how the only way to win the "war" is to stop fighting ourselves. A messy, funny, sad, and deeply, deeply human masterpiece. If you’re looking for a movie that makes your brain work overtime while still giving you an adrenaline rush, this is it
MagicReview gives One battle after another a 9.4 out of 10.
That’s all we have for now.What do you guys think about Leo playing the 'loser hero' here? And do you think the political satire in this movie feels a little too on-the-nose, or does it fit perfectly with the current climate?Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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