One Battle After Another: An Impressive Ensemble Let Down by Weak Writing (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson is certainly no stranger to massive critical acclaim, with each of his features having garnered a fair share of positive reviews. Have they always been deserved? Well, it's more than fair to say that some of his films are a little overrated, including "Inherent Vice," "Punch-Drunk Love," and "Licorice Pizza," but this hasn't stopped him from amassing a rather impressive 11 Oscar nominations over the course of his incredible career (three as producer, three as director, and five as screenwriter).

Now he's back with his latest project, the intriguingly-titled "One Battle After Another," which once again has him bringing together a remarkable ensemble, headlined by three Oscar winners, and receiving some of the best reviews of his career. The big question is whether this is one of his efforts that is worthy of the praise (such as "There Will Be Blood," "Boogie Nights," and "Magnolia") or if it's merely another over-hyped work that fits in more alongside those projects mentioned earlier.

As the film opens, we are introduced to Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), members of a revolutionary group known as The French 75. On a mission to help rescue detained immigrants, Perfidia captures & humiliates commanding officer Stephen J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), who later catches her on another mission while she's trying to plant a bomb. However, he lets her go in return for meeting up later for sex. In the meantime, Pat & Perfidia become lovers and have a child named Charlene. Pat tries to get Perfidia to settle down, but she insists on continuing being a revolutionary, which eventually gets her arrested after killing a guard at a bank. This causes her to enter witness protection and become a rat, leading to the execution of most of her former comrades, which subsequently forces Pat to go into hiding with Charlene.

16 years later, Pat and Charlene (Chase Infiniti) (now known as Bob and Willa Ferguson) remain in hiding in Baktan Cross, California. Colonel Lockjaw has been invited to join an exclusive group known as the "Christmas Adventurers Club" that is basically a secret group for white supremacists. However, because of their views, he must secretly hunt down Willa to determine if she is actually his daughter through his relationship with Perfidia, for if she is, he sees it as a problem that must be eliminated. With this looming threat, Bob is warned through his old network, forcing him back into action to save his daughter's life.

For his latest outing, Anderson has come up with a rather peculiar scenario that eventually finds itself split into three main storylines, with a couple of them having pretty strong potential to provide a riveting, compelling experience that could justify the film's somewhat extreme runtime of 162 minutes. However, it's at this splitting point that he runs into a bit of trouble with keeping everything running smoothly, following the somewhat intriguing prelude.

The branch that works least of all is the one involving Colonel Lockjaw and his desire to join the Christmas Adventurers Club, which sadly boils down to nothing more than a racist trying to get rid of potential evidence of his interracial relationship before a bunch of other racists find out about it. There just isn't a whole lot to work with there, and it simply doesn't provide much in the way of compelling drama to propel the film forward.

However, the other two storylines, as mentioned, do contain the potential to help the film move along decently, though sadly we also see evidence of Anderson having difficulty with them pretty early on as well. On one side of it, we have Willa being picked up by Deandra (Regina Hall), another revolutionary, for safe keeping, eventually taking her to a convent so she can hide out, and while it does eventually kick into gear near the end of the film, you do unfortunately have to get through a lot of predictable beats before it does so. Even so, it ends up being the most successful portion of the tapestry that Anderson has weaved together here.

As for the last section, it basically consists of Bob running around while trying to locate and get to his daughter. This is where Anderson had the biggest opportunity to do something really captivating, but sadly he declines to do so, settling instead on having him get help from Willa's Sensei (Benicio Del Toro), running from place to place, and going through a running gag of not being able to remember the correct code phrases to get the location of his daughter. In the end, it's a storyline that doesn't really get anywhere, ultimately not serving much of a purpose except to give DiCaprio's character something to do.

With all that said, while the writing is certainly not the strongest element of the film, at the very least it has a remarkably impressive ensemble to help tell it. DiCaprio turns in fine work as a father desperate to get to his daughter, while Del Toro makes for a decent companion along the way (though it's certainly not the level of work that one could call the "Best Supporting Actor" performance of the year, as many have been trying to say). However, the most impressive performances come from newcomer Chase Infinity as Willa and Teyana Taylor as Perfidia, both of whom give the film a much-needed boost. The only disappointing performance here belongs to two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn, who is curiously flat throughout. The audience understands that he's the villain, but Penn should've at least tried to give the character a little spark of life so as to make him more memorable & formidable.

Overall, it's unfortunate to have to say that this is another PTA outing that does not live up to the hype. The cast is wonderful (for the most part) and there was certainly a lot of potential here, but it would appear that Anderson just had a little too much difficulty tapping into it, leaving us with one intriguing storyline that takes quite a while to get going, one that wanders about in search of substance, and another that merely lands with a thud.

Curiously though, it would appear to be the frontrunner for 2025's Best Picture Oscar, which would be a rather strange accolade to give it. There are certainly far worse films that could take the honor, but also a multitude of far better ones that deserve it much more. In a similar vein, there are worse films in PTA's filmography ("Inherent Vice" for one), but there are also much better ones that are more deserving of your time. When all is said and done, "One Battle After Another" simply ends up right in the middle.

Video/Audio:

"One Battle After Another" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.78:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality, featuring a picture that's beautifully clear & sharp throughout the entirety of its 162-minute duration. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue & Jonny Greenwood's score in outstanding quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a marvelous job in both areas for the film's Blu-ray debut.

Special Features:

None.

Conclusion:

Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" features a mostly outstanding ensemble and some storylines that had a fair amount of potential, but sadly the acclaimed writer/director was unable to tap into it this time around, leaving us with a very mixed collection of story branches that could've used a few more drafts to help develop them into something a little more compelling, captivating, and memorable, as opposed to the somewhat forgettable experience he ultimately delivers.

Score: 3/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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