A Few Thoughts on “One Battle After Another”
A few thoughts on ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER which we watched last night and enjoyed very much despite being a flawed movie that probably should not have won the Best Picture Oscar last week…
1. This is Paul Thomas Anderson‘s third best movie behind BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA which for a director of his level of ambition is saying quite a bit.
2. Liberal activism in ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is portrayed as (i say this as a committed liberal)..
a) Viewed as a state of perpetual war similar to how Nanisca in THE WOMAN KING advises Dahomey to not be in the war captives business (i.e. signing up for perpetual battle always means losing eventually)
b) All passion and no strategy. The movie having the equivalent of 90 minute chase scene in the middle comes from the characters unwillingness to be strategic and their addiction to being loud and performative.
3. As such, PT Anderson is very into self-destructive characters (See BOOGIE NIGHTS). We are supposed to pity not sympathize w/ characters in this movie, who mistakenly think activism = glamorous battlefield activity instead of occasional victories and many loses.
4) Its flaws are the same that haunt this filmmaker perennially. Namely…
a) He does not know how to do villainy without it seeming outrageous and cartoony. See Daniel Day Lewis in THERE WILL BE BLOOD and whatever the hell Sean Penn thinks he’s doing in this movie.
b) Too long by 40 minutes
c) Shamelessly wastes resources. The list of great actors in this movie who have too little to do includes Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Paul Grimstad, Teyana Taylor.
Very glad I watched it, would watch it again. Would have given BEST PICTURE to a good three of the other contenders though.