The Dead End World of The Counselor (4 stars)

The Counselor, played by Michael Fassbender, was a man so in love with Laura (Penelope Cruz), that he literally suffered from temporary insanity, brought on by hubris and greed, in getting involved with a drug cartel for a one shot deal at millions of dollars. The counselor was warned over, and over, and over again, by criminal elements who were so eloquent in their description of the drug world, but the warnings were ignored, and eventually regretted with great devastation. In Ridley Scott's film written by Cormac McCarthy, we see how an overly confident and arrogant dashing young lawyer thinks he can just dip his toes into a drug deal, and come out as clean as he went in and live the high-life like that of the low-lifes he has provided legal assistance to.

In this dangerous world of cocaine smuggling along the Mexican border, The Counselor has a soap opera style to it in highlighting the glamorous way that the pretty sexy people enjoy the fruits of their illegal labor. But simmering underneath the sexy, is a cold brutal paranoia that even Reiner (Javier Bardem) and Westray (Brad Pitt) try to convey to the counselor. They sense a slight apprehension in him, which is really just the counselor's conceited naivete, and then the chess pieces are set into place for the drug deal to occur. However, Malkina (Cameron Diaz), a cheetah obsessed sociopath, is so morally corrupt and predator like, that Reiner really has no idea how dangerous she is and the personal risks involved in this new deal. The counselor is once more reminded about what he's about to get in to, and he is told in no uncertain terms about an excruciating method of death that befalls double-crossers, and how snuff films have been made on the innocent by standers. Nope, still not fazed, he has to cover the $200,000 cost for Laura's diamond ring (purchased in Amsterdam), and his back is against the wall financially, so he sexily sips on his Bloody Mary and confirms he's in. Meanwhile, the other players in the transporting of the drugs set the wheels in motion of decapitating a drug runner on his motorcycle, and then steal the truck with the cocaine. With the truck missing along with the drugs, there's only one person to blame: The handsome, greedy, stupid counselor, how convenient.

It is made perfectly clear to the counselor that shit has hit the fan and there is no option for apologies or explanations, this world he walked in to is his world now and forever. He tips off Laura to get out of town and he would soon follow her, but the double-crossers are two steps ahead because they planned this all the long. The counselor was the fall guy, the pawn, he never had a chance to earn the millions he so greedily wanted, and his girlfriend was the sacrificial lamb to teach him a lesson about playing with evil. In a last ditch effort to seek help and advice, the counselor receives only poetic wisdom from Jefe (Rueben Blades) who tells him that the only way his new world will end is when he dies. As all the key players meet horrible deaths, in a Mexican hotel room dripping with grief and despair, the counselor receives a package that makes him lose his mind and all hope; this was foretold to him and he knew exactly what it meant. His greed, arrogance and ignorance cost him the only good thing in his life. And that is the moral of this story, you play with fire, your whole world will burn.

The Counselor had several scenes that were brutally bloody, but it's also the scenes that we did not see that were equally as terrifying. The concept of a snuff film should automatically send chills down your spine, but short of watching one, knowing what such a film features is enough to horrify a decent person. The dialogue in the film made the principal characters seem more educated and intelligent than the usual depraved drug smugglers, and that also is a testament as to how much more cruel they could be too; the smarter you are, the more devious you are. I think the discourse of most of the conversations may prove to be too high-brow for some audiences (ie. chatty), and that is perhaps why some people don't like it. To them, it doesn't make sense because you know what... you have to pay attention to what they are saying because the dialogue spells out what is happening, and what is going to happen, and why. As in 'No Country for Old Men' and 'The Road', Cormac McCarthy yet again shows how desperate people can make very bad decisions, as well as how brutally cold and evil people are. In her limited screen time, Penelope Cruz was fine, and Javier Bardem was great as well. Brad Pitt was good as a shady character who was paranoid, and he had every right to be. A lot of criticism has attacked Cameron Diaz' performance as Malkina, but for a sexy, jaded, ruthless, narcissist, Cameron looked great and did a find job with Malkina. As usual, Michael Fassbender was fantastic. His character was never named, he was just referred to as the counselor. He started out as beautiful and successful, and ended up with absolutely nothing. His final scene was wrecked with such emotion and it left you wondering, what would eventually happen to him. The drug cartel already destroyed him, the rest of his life will be utter misery knowing that he knocked down the first domino that changed his world.

Not all movies should end nicely wrapped up to please an audience used to being spoon fed. There's no harm in thinking for yourself and speculating about what happens with certain characters. With a seasoned director like Ridley Scott, and a Pulitzer Prize winning writer, The Counselor script was deliberately written as is, the characters deliberately presented as is (these are not normal people), with a plot narrative that strives to be different than your regular drug cartel type film. For those who enjoy a thinking person's crime drama filled to the gills with despicable people and disgusting acts, The Counselor may be your kind of film.

Grade: 4 out of 5

ps. I had a great time with Myriam in watching the film with her, talking fassy politics & gossip, and eating sushi afterwards!