THE COUNSELOR DVD (2013)




SYNOPSIS: A savvy lawyer (Fassbender) known for doing the right thing for the wrong people dives into a treacherous drug deal for some quick cash...but he soon learns that having it all could mean losing everything.

MOVIE REVIEW:

"At the understanding that life is not going to take you back. You are the world you have created. And when you cease to exist, this world that you have created will also cease to exist. But for those with the understanding that they're living the last days of the world, death acquires a different meaning. The extinction of all reality is a concept no resignation can encompass. And then, all the grand designs and all the grand plans will be finally exposed and revealed for what they are…"

If you can stomach two hours of dialogue that reads like the one above, then you probably love The Counselor otherwise you can wisely filter this title out of your viewing list.

The acclaimed novelist Cormac McCarthy (The Road, No Country for Old Men) himself penned the screenplay with the prestigious Ridley Scott at the helm together with five high profile stars in the picture, what on earth could go wrong? 

In reality, McCarthy’s script is far detached as a cinematic piece; it’s wordy, talky and essential weird in some instances. For a crime drama that involved ruthless, dangerous drug cartels, the end result require far more patience than substance to sit through. It’s hard to really describe the story because we are still digesting all that tedious poetic dialogue and cheetahs. We promise to come to that later.

When his shady friend, Reiner (Javier Bardem) offers him a lucrative drug deal, the counselor (Michael Fassbender), a successful lawyer who has a beautiful girlfriend Laura (Penelope Cruz) decides to join him. But when double-crossing causes the deal to go awry, the counselor and his associates including middleman Westray (Brad Pitt) finds their lives in great danger.

Shot during the tragic death of his brother, The Counselor reeks little of a Ridley Scott movie. Visually it’s boring to look at. Scenes linger on forever, worst of all it has little connections to subsequent events. The only worthy things to watch are Cameron Diaz’s character, Malkina screwing a yellow Ferrari. Yes you read that right. Malkina is a steamy hot but scheming evil woman and Diaz is an eye-opener here. Next, an unexpected bloody violent end to a major star towards the end of the movie and glorious shot of cheetahs chasing down jackrabbits and cheetahs in car as if the specie is common as pets in Texas.  

The above are just some of the highlights of The Counselor, not that it has a lot anyway. At the end you can summaries this as a grim tale about human greed and ultimately an odd one. The assorted stars and drug cartel setting are mere condiments to a piece of fat undercooked steak.    

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Viral Pieces Uncut consists of three beautiful shorts featuring Laura, The Counselor and Malkina. A Trailer is also included. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Lots of color grading is involved, other than this, the visual on the DVD looks great. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack boasts an excellent listening experience with vigorous sound effects and dialogue. 

MOVIE RATING:


DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee



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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Crime/Thriller
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Dean Norris, John Leguizamo, Natalie Dormer
Director: Ridley Scott
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene, Violence and Coarse Language)
Year Made: 2013

 SPECIAL FEATURES

- Viral Pieces Uncut
- Trailer

 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English/Spanish/Portuguese/Thai
Subtitles: English/Mandarin/Cantonese/Korean/Indonesian/
Malay/
Spanish/Portuguese/Thai/Vietnamese
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1/2.0
Running Time: 1 hr 59 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: HVN Entertainment Singapore