'The Counselor' is Confusing yet Entertaining

By: Taylor Pineda

Sometimes star power is not enough. This may or may not be the case for the film “The Counselor,” released Friday of last week.

The star studded film featuring A-list names such as, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, and Michael Fassbender left many viewers confused and distraught. Although bigger messages appeared in the film, the complex language didn’t equate to the violent scenes.

It is evident that films like this have the potential to harm Mexican culture by glorifying drug, war, and border related issues. Although I am not convinced that this film entirely encumbered this, it certainly didn’t help.

One thing that is to be said in favor are the roles played in the film, which imposed a challenge to the actors. It may be possible that the cast had as hard of a time following the film as the viewers did. The thought was there, but the connection between reality and ficion were definitely off in the film.

The philosophical scripting was insightful, but not always appropriate for the text of the film. Emphasizing irrelevant characters just brought further questions to viewers that never reached resolution.

Overall, the film is worth watching. The casting was very appropriate and the philosophical ideologies are worth analyzing. From an aesthetic point, the film director Ridley Scott captures both the glitz and glam of a drug life as well as the ruthless demolitions of one’s life consumed by drug trafficking.