{"id":32107,"date":"2025-09-24T21:52:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T04:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=32107"},"modified":"2025-09-24T21:52:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T04:52:43","slug":"one-battle-after-another-ranks-among-the-years-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=32107","title":{"rendered":"ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Ranks Among the Year\u2019s Best"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 162 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Warner Bros. opens exclusively at\ntheaters and IMAX screens on September 26th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For critics, awards season at the movies typically begins in\nlate October\/early November and carries on through the holidays. Various titles\nare screened early for the press in the hopes of building momentum and\npotentially earning accolades and nominations. The release of One Battle\nAfter Another<\/em> makes one feel as if we\u2019re already beginning that process.\nYes, it\u2019s still early and there are likely forty or more contenders still\ncoming down the pipeline, but this effort is among the best of the year. It\u2019s a\nremarkable effort that effectively contends with current political issues,\nfeatures incredible performances, and keeps one gripped throughout its extended\nrunning time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Set in a United States run by right-wing elements, Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) joins a militant revolutionary faction and becomes romantically involved with Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). She is more extreme in her views, and, unbeknownst to Bob, not always faithful to her partner. In pursuit of the leads is Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), who, while enacting ugly and cruel anti-immigration policies, harbors an attraction to black women. When Perfidia discovers that she is pregnant. it fails to slow her down, despite Bob\u2019s protestations that they should step back and care for their new baby girl. Before long, Perfidia vanishes and forces close in on the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob is left with the baby and goes on the run. 16-years-later, the dad is living under a false identity with his teenage daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). In the meantime, Lockjaw has risen in the ranks, and is invited to join a group of powerful politicians with white supremacist views. When Lockjaw\u2019s forces arrive in the hometown of Bob and Willa and the two are separated in various raids, the dad sets out to try and find her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite being based on a novel from 1970, this adaptation\ncouldn\u2019t feel more accurate, presenting a world that isn\u2019t very different from\nthe one we\u2019re currently living in. The screenplay doesn\u2019t hit one over the head\nwith its message, but it\u2019s incredibly compelling with its depictions of\nimmigrating raids and other terrifying events. As chilling as it is, there is\nso much going on that the weight of the tale doesn\u2019t overwhelm. The action is\nfrantic, with a few unpredictable and jarring moments as violence breaks out.\nEqually tense and creatively shot is a car pursuit that follows vehicles\nthrough hilly desert terrain, dropping out of frame and reappearing as they go\nup and down in front of the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film is also full of great performances. DiCaprio is\nrelatable as the dad, whose understandable paranoia has, over the years, has\ncaused him to stay mostly housebound and in the shadows. His habits, including\nsmoking a lot of pot, cause some darkly humorous problems. Particularly, when\ngetting back in contact with the revolutionary organization and having\ndifficulty remembering necessary code words to get his messages. As events get\nmore dire, he\u2019s clearly out of his element, displaying palpable panic that\nactually ingratiates him to the viewer. Benicio Del Toro also stands out as\nSergio St. Carlos, a contrastingly calm and collected figure trying to help Bob\nout while protecting families from immigration raids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chase Infiniti makes an impression as Willa, a\nstrong-willed, rebellious teen at odds with her father, who soon sees his\nclaims and concerns coming true before her eyes. And Penn is excellent as the\nthreatening Lockjaw. The character is equal parts nasty and pathetic, often\nrationalizing his actions and making outlandishly hypocritical statements about\nhis past to the organization he wants to join so desperately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Everyone in the film is incredible, and the stakes are\nincredibly high as this father desperately searches through horribly dangerous\nsituations in the hopes of helping his daughter. Of course, the film has plenty\nto say about the current state of the country and the extremist views. And\nthere is also a clever sense of humor as the characters try to process what\u2019s\noccurring around them. Writer\/director Paul Thomas Anderson has made several\nexceptional features over the years (Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, There Will\nBe Blood, Phantom Thread, <\/em>and Licorice Pizza<\/em> to name but a few) and One\nBattle After Another<\/em> easily joins their ranks. It\u2019s a stellar film that\nmakes a lasting impression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 162 minutes This feature from Warner Bros. opens exclusively at theaters and IMAX screens on September 26th. For critics, awards season at the movies typically begins in late October\/early November and carries on through the holidays. Various titles are screened early for the press in the hopes of building momentum and potentially earning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[216,697,2110,2552,3306,4157,6251,12256,15406,15407,15408,15409,15841,17867,19794,22825,23989],"class_list":["post-32107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-216","tag-action","tag-awards","tag-benicio-del-toro","tag-book-to-film-adaptation","tag-chase-infiniti","tag-drama","tag-leonardo-dicaprio","tag-one-battle-after-another","tag-one-battle-after-another-film-review","tag-one-battle-after-another-movie-review","tag-one-battle-after-another-review","tag-paul-thomas-anderson","tag-sean-penn","tag-teyana-taylor","tag-thriller","tag-warner-bros"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}