“The
Counselor” has so many stars  that as each frame comes into view you
start wondering who is going to show up! Along with that you have Oscar
winners and Oscar nominees which almost guarantees that there will be
some fine acting and you get just that from Michael Fassbender, Penelope
Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt plus cameos from Rosie
Perez, Ruben Blades, John Leguizamo and Goran Visnjic. All have moments
or more to show their abilities and they all come through as does the
rest of the cast.

The
screenplay by Cormac McCarthy is at times confusing and leaves
questions at the end but holds your interest as the twists and turns
keep on happening. Ridley Scott promises more than he delivers but the
production design by Arthur Max, the director of photography Dariusz
Wolski and the costumes by Janty Yates keeps your eyes and mind busy
during the 115 minutes of the film. You may not be sure where you are or
what is happening but you will not want to look away, except, maybe,
during two particular points of violence!

The
story is mainly about a lawyer, the counselor, who gets into drug
trafficking not realizing what it can do to the soul or how it usually
ends for most and we watch his journey and those he meets and becomes
involved with ao the way. Would it be a film with Fassbender if he
wasn’t nude at some point? The director opens the film with Fassbender
and Cruz in bed having sex getting that out of the way. Talking about
sex there is a scene that if Diaz did it she deserves some sort of
acrobatic recognition. It also provides the movie with its one big
laugh. She is also at her most beautiful looking as sleek, slick and
unreadable as her two cheetahs

Bardem
continues his outrageous characters, with outrageous hair, selling him
to the audience and demanding their attention whenever he is on screen.
Pitt shows an assurance that moves the story along and you will get a
lesson in diamonds along the way by Bruno Ganz as a diamond dealer.

“The
Counselor” was a lot better than I expected. The last one left standing
surprised me and I didn’t quite understand how that happened but if you
like pretty actors surrounded by pretty homes, cars and jewelry doing
good at their job then this is a movie for you.

“The Counselor” is rated R for graphic violence, sex and language and runs 1 hour and 57 minutes.