Charles Salom | Contributing Writer
While vivid characters, love of California, and inventive camera work distinguish writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s films from his contemporaries, “One Battle After Another” stands apart for its political themes. The additions made by Anderson in One Battle are breakneck pacing and action set pieces more commonly found in films like “Terminator” or “Bad Boys.”
This marriage of the established Anderson and the new accents craft another instant classic in American cinema, once again spearheaded by Paul Thomas Anderson.
One Battle After Another follows former revolutionary terrorist Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), who has traded the explosives for the joint as he raises his daughter, Willa Ferguson (Chase Infiniti), while hiding from the US government.
Willa’s Mother Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyona Taylor) looms large over the film, with Anderson dedicating the first 3rd to Perfidia and her relationship with Bob. Teyona Taylor is erotic, chaotic, and conveys the complexity of Perfidia Beverly Hills through an amazing physical and emotional performance.
The sins of the father and, in this case, the mother, are the central theme of One Battle After Another, and Willa has to pay the price in many ways, as beautifully foreshadowed by the needle drop of “Dirty Work” by Steely Dan, which marks the journey ahead for Willa.
Chase Infiniti appears in a scene from “One Battle After Another.” (Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Infiniti is an instant star, able to hold her own with Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, and Sean Penn. She captures the headstrong energy of a teenage girl, and the exchanges between her and DiCaprio never feel like an out-of-touch screenwriter punching down to the next generation. Anderson’s own experience as a father of three daughters soaks the dialogue with heart and a sense of reality.
Bob is a burnout drunk who gets lectured by Willa for drinking and driving, and the writing is layered here as Bob tries to tell his daughter not to yell at him while simultaneously wanting to raise an empowered daughter who can speak her mind.
The supportive energy of Bob, who was once the most progressive in his society, is now struggling to navigate the use of pronouns. It is played for laughs but not as an insult; instead, the gag shows how his model of liberalism has fallen out of step with the times.
DiCaprio expertly executes the emotional beats, but his comedic performance is just as effective with Bob Ferguson yelling at a French 75 telephone operator for being a “Knit Picking Prick” over Bob forgetting the password that would get him the secret coordinates.
For 16 years, the father-daughter duo has lived in peace, even if Willa’s upbringing was filled with memorizing revolutionary texts and hearing stories about her mother.
This tranquility is interrupted when Steven J Lockjaw (Sean Penn) gets invited to the Christmas Adventures Club, an elite group of white supremacists. Lockjaw wants nothing more than to be a part of this group, but his sexual past with Perfidia leads the members to believe Willa might be his child.
What ensues is a wild chase of Lockjaw after Willa, Bob after Lockjaw, and the Christmas adventures after Lockjaw.
The intense action is non-stop, with the film moving effortlessly from sequence to sequence and set piece to set piece without ever devolving into mind-numbing action. Featuring a jaw-dropping final car chase that is unlike anything ever captured on film, set over a mountain road in California. It’s a film of extremes, and it could easily be an overwhelming mess, but the ideas here are beautifully balanced in Anderson’s picture.
Teyana Taylor, left, and Sean Penn in a scene from Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. (Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Sean Penn deserves the Academy Award for his haunting, satirical performance as this madman general. Penn brings his full physicality to the role, not only showcasing his muscular physique but also making the way Lockjaw moves his lips and walks so distinct and memorable. He is funny, menacing, and with a name like Steven J. Lockjaw, instantly in the pantheon of iconic villains.
Benicio Del Toro, cool and collected in an otherwise frantic movie, plays Sensei Sergio, Willa’s karate teacher, and helps Bob escape capture from Lockjaw’s troops. Not only is he the coolest character, but also one of the most humanized, as his Hispanic community loves him and runs what he calls a “Latin Harriet Tubman situation” with Migrants he shuffles around to avoid capture.
If you have not caught on yet, Anderson crafts the richest and most stunning worlds, and for it to mirror our modern-day political climate with fascist leaders and ideological extremists, it’s a visceral picture.
Anderson’s final message in “One Battle After Another” has little to do with ideological warfare, but rather about hope: the sins of our parents do not define us, and we can craft a new path forward.
About Post Author
