The film follows Bob (Leonardo Di Caprio) who was part of a freedom fighting group known as the French 75 when his girlfriend disappears after being arrested and leaves his with their baby. 16 years later, the baby is now grown up and Bob is a wasted loser. The Colonel that was after them is again after them.
I have to admit that I haven't seen that many PTA films (this being my third) but this is my favourite film of his. Firstly the fact that the film doesn't rush itself and takes its time letting things play out. I was genuinely worried when I saw that the film was over two and a half hours long but to be honest I thought the runtime was perfect. I was never bored and it never felt like they padded things out or were rushing to get to the end.
The casting is really good. Leonardo Di Caprio gives another solid performance and each time he shows how good he is I am reminded that this is the same Leonardo Di Caprio that was not very good in Romeo and Juliet and The Beach. It’s one of his better performances because its understated just still feels important. Chase Infiniti is a huge discovery and does very well surrounded by Oscar winning actors. Her best scenes are when she is with Sean Penn. She is trying to be strong in the face of Penn’s creepy Lockjaw.
Sean Penn is the real star of this film. Every second that he was on screen made me feel like I wanted to take a shower. Just the fact that he is after Bob and Willa is enough to make him a villain in the film but the idea that he wants to wipe his daughter out because he wants to join some KKK-type club but they wouldn’t haven’t him in if he told the truth but there is
The cinematography is very nice. The last 20-25 minutes take place on one long winding road with the desert either side and yet Michael Bauman makes it look quite nice. Johnny Greenwood’s score is something that I have heard good things about and it works for this film but I don’t think that its the best of the year.
I really liked this film. A lot of people are saying that this is their favourite film of the year and whilst its in my top 3, it doesnt make it to top spot although I can see why. When people say there are no original ideas in cinema anymore then we can show them films like this
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