DUBAI: The revolution may not be televised, but it sure makes for compelling cinema. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” is a sociopolitical event so in tune with the current political climate that its opening scene (set against the backdrop of an immigrant detention center) could be mistaken for the news.
The story arcs across two timelines: Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a once-radical guerrilla turned single dad and drug-addled recluse, must confront a returning threat when his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) is hunted by his old enemy Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn).
DiCaprio’s performance is revelatory. We see him on both sides of a 16-year time jump and he juggles his naïve idealism (and later disillusionment) with moments of quiet emotional weight and urgency as he morphs into a father out of his depth with practiced ease. His comic timing remains sharp as ever. A scene where he has to manically argue with a former revolutionary colleague over the phone as he begs for the coordinates to his daughter even as the latter demads old passcodes that he’s forgotten elicited huge laughs.
Alongside DiCaprio’s possible career-best turn, Penn is equally impressive as the hateful Lockjaw, who’s about to be initiated into a group of wealthy, powerful White nationalists (drawn in broad strokes, but no less real for that). Before that, though, an old error needs correcting, and he will stop at nothing to do it. Lockjaw is evil through and through, and yet, in the film’s closing minutes, you come to truly feel for him, thanks to Penn’s stunning performance.
And in her breakout big-screen role, Infiniti more than holds her own opposite DiCaprio, Penn, and other major names including Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and Benicio del Toro, all of whom contribute tonal grounding to the narrative’s grand ambitions.
As for Anderson, the filmmaker’s tight control over tone is the film’s greatest feat. He flits between absurdist satire, brutal action, and intimate family drama with a confidence few others can muster.
In short, “One Battle After Another” is not just a movie about revolution; it is a cinematic revolution. Its swagger, intelligence and emotional pulse make it much more than awards bait; it’s a film that should reverberate for years.
