Movie Review: The Counselor

Rating: **

I am a Ridley Scott fan. One of my all-time favorite movies Gladiator is a Ridley Scott film; so I went to see The Counselor with hopes of a movie that would be worthy of a five-star rating. I was disappointed. This movie was less action than cerebral exploration of life, greed, love and grief. I have to get my superficial comments out of the way. First, the costumes and slick fashionista approach to the story distracted from the realism. From the sunglasses to the hokey hairdos, it was much too much. Yes, we got the impression of the world of the rich and well-to-do, but at the same time, I found myself staring at the colorful wardrobe and ridiculous hairdos than paying attention to the story itself.

The actual story revolves around an attorney's fall from grace as he lets his pursuit of money get him involved in a drug cartel scheme to move drugs across the Mexican border to Chicago. This movie is a who-is-screwing-who mind-bender, except about halfway through Cameron Diaz's character becomes the obvious foe to watch, which actually detracts from the who's-behind-the-scheme question and ruins the suspense.

The whole movie becomes depressing with no one to root for. The greedy Counselor spends more time being lectured than pursued. And why he jumps from place to place is unclear. Who the real enemy in the film is also unclear and the Drug Cartel becomes a faceless nemesis. It's too bad because the movie had potential. But in the end all we learn is that evil wins, period.