“One Battle After Another” An Intense Political Satire That Delivers Action and Dark Humor

In the latest film from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson “One Battle After Another,” Bob is a washed up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and reliant daughter, Willa.

When his evil nemesis resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” delivers an entertaining blend of action and dark humor, while mixing in some real world political commentary. This film also delivers great performances from the entire cast, especially from Leonardo Di Caprio and Benicio Del Toro.

“One Battle After Another” successfully balances the thrilling action that’s scattered throughout with the dark humor. The tonal shift between action, humor and the political commentary has gotten a bit of a mixed response from some audiences and critics. Yet, I think the tonal shift works just fine with this film.

In between some of the action-packed segments throughout the film, the feature does confront some of the contemporary American issues that are going on today. The film also dives into the subjects of immigrant detention centers and abuse of power, which can really raise some of the tension that the film delivers.

While some of the dark humor doesn’t always necessarily land sometimes, it does help break the tension. A good amount of the dark humor comes from DiCaprio’s character, who has a “brain cooked by drugs” - a direct quote from his character. While he does have some humorous paranoid rants, the scenes where he tries to get help from an old revolutionary underground phone hotline and flips out due to not remembering the answer to a cryptic security question is rather humorous.

“One Battle After Another” also delivers us some good action scattered throughout. There’s a scene that depicts a brutal military assault by Col. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) on a sanctuary city under the guise of finding a drug network is a little tense. And there’s a big car chase scene towards the end when Bob is trying to locate Willa throughout the California desert hills that really stands out.

Overall, “One Battle After Another” is a solid film that balances exhilarating action set pieces, politics, humor and some heart-felt family drama (the father-daughter relationship). The film also had a record-breaking opening for Paul Thomas Anderson and is currently considered a strong contender for the award season!

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Bob Ferguson/Pat Calhoun); Sean Penn (Col. Steven J. Lockjaw); Benecio Del Toro (Sergio St. Carlos); Regina Hall (Deandra); Teryana Taylor (Perfidia Beverly Hills); Alana Haim (Mae West); Wood Harris (Loredo); Paul Grimsted (Howard Sommerville); Tony Goldwyn (Virgil Throckmorton); Chase Infiniti (Willa Ferguson/Charlene Calhoun)

Writer/director: Paul Thomas Anderson (Lirorice Pizza; Phantom Thread; Inherent Vice; The Master)

Trivia: This is the second film adaptation written and directed by Anderson based on a novel by Thomas Pynchon, following the 2014 film “Inherent Vice.” Anderson had considered adapting the 1990 novel “Vineland” for years but struggled, believing his love for the novel would get in the way of his ability to fairly rework it. 

Instead, he set aside the idea of a direct adaptation, and wrote a series of separate stories. This film emerged as a combination of those independent stories, with some elements of “Vineland,” particularly the father-daughter dynamic.

MPA: Rated R for pervasive language, violence, sexual content and drug use   (162 minutes)

Make sure to keep on checking my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page to see what I will be coming up on the review front!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQUPdVxZNPk

• Bob's nickname and reputation as "Rocketman" is a reference to the legendary novel 'Gravity's Rainbow' by 'Vineland' author Thomas Pynchon, as is the discussion between Tim Smith and an older woman about her famous banana pancakes.

• Filmed over 7 months across California (Eureka, Arcata, Sacramento, Stockton, San Juan Batista, San Diego, Los Angeles, Borrego Springs) and El Paso, TX.

• Paul Thomas Anderson's fifth and final feature film collaboration with first assistant director Adam Somner, who died of thyroid cancer on November 27, 2024. They previously worked on There Will Be Blood (2007), The Master (2012), Inherent Vice (2014), and Licorice Pizza (2021) together.

• Paul Thomas Anderson's most expensive film yet with a reported budget between $130 million and $175 million, despite Anderson's highest grossing film, There Will Be Blood (2007), making only $76 million upon release.

• Second film adaptation written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson based on a novel by Thomas Pynchon, following Inherent Vice (2014), which also has Benicio Del Toro in the cast. Both films were distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

• There have been interviews with Paul Thomas Anderson noting his interest in Vineland going back decades. He spoke openly about the difficulties of adapting the novel, which he considers one of his personal favorites, and had to overcome his considerable reluctance to make anything less than a fully faithful adaptation. He finally found an angle after adapting Inherent Vice, and in a press notice issued by Warner Brothers he says that he had Pynchon's blessing to try a loose adaptation that focused entirely on the most emotionally resonant parts of the book for him. He also noted that the final script for the film also merged together unrelated aborted projects, namely an action film involving chase sequences, and a father-daughter story (which was also partially derived from Vineland anyway).

• According to Paul Thomas Anderson, the final chase scene can be seen as an homage to classics like Bullitt (1968), The French Connection (1971), The Seven-Ups (1973), Vanishing Point (1971), The Sugarland Express (1974), and Ronin (1998).