One Battle After Another

In the run-up to the release of this latest DiCaprio-led tentpole, I would argue that Warner Bros. had absolutely no idea how to market "One Battle After Another" (OBAA). I consider myself a big Paul Thomas Anderson fan (hereby referred to as PTA). OBAA should have instantly been at the top of my watch list for this fall. My honest reaction to all of the trailers I saw was "well, that looks pretty pretentious and boring, and I have no idea what's even going on from that preview." Then OBAA came close to release and an avalanche of rave reviews rained down to greet it in theaters, and I had to go see what this enigma of a film is all about.

Oh boy, did that campaign miss the essence of this film. Luckily, OBAA has still had a decent box office run thus far, nowhere near what Hollywood should consider a flop for a film like this. After seeing it, I do better understand why it was so tough to distill down to a 2.5-minute trailer. A modern epic, OBAA is a bit of everything. It's tragic and serious, but also hilarious. Terrifying and exciting. It's likely forever going to be called a drama, but it's paced like an action-thriller, with dialogue that gets laughs at nearly the clip of a full-bore comedy. What the heck even is this incredible monstrosity of a film? OBAA takes unbelievable risks, and it just narrowly walks the tight rope between insane and brilliant, coming out the other side as one of the most interesting, effective, and utterly relevant films of the last decade.

It doesn't hurt that Dicaprio seems to revel in the absolute mess of a protagonist, Bob, that he is playing here. Leo can get stuck in the trap so common for massive stars who have come before where it just feels like his own fame overshadows the characters he is playing and it feels like he's just playing himself over and over again. But like his last film "Killers of the Flower Moon," he's taking on such original material here that he really does nearly disappear into this character. And that is a hell of an accomplishment for someone at DiCaprio's level of fame. Chase Infiniti is not intimidated at all in her first-ever film part as Bob's daughter, Willa (and second major role in general following Apple's "Presumed Innocent" series), carrying large chunks of this film herself in OBAA's web of interwoven timelines. Benicio Del Toro is the rock that grounds all of the chaos in this film, giving what is easily the most endearing performance of his career. Last, but not least, Sean Penn is just maniacal as one of the best film antagonists in years, Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw. I can understand that some will feel he's a bit of a caricature, but it works for this material. He also probably had to get into the best shape of his career for a part at the ripe age of 65. Incredibly impressive all around.

There's nothing particularly unique here, technically or stylistically, aside from the 70MM film stock the entire film was shot on (if you can still find OBAA in IMAX 70MM, highly recommend!) and the complex and flawlessly executed cross-cutting throughout the back half of the film's story. If there is one thing I noticed that differed slightly from other PTA work it is a propensity to lean into long, intimate close-ups more so than the more complex, multi-character, meticulously blocked shots that often appear in work like "There Will Be Blood" or "The Master", accentuating a more intimate than typical PTA film storyline.

At this point in 2025, I expect "One Battle After Another" to be the challenging, topical, and crowd-pleasing film that awards season voters will rally around this winter. We will see multiple awards for OBAA, especially for the aforementioned ensemble cast, but I would not be shocked at all to see "One Battle After Another" take the top prize at the Oscars this year. And it's the first time in a long, long time (probably since "The Hurt Locker" in 2009) that I would wholeheartedly agree with the Academy's choice for Best Picture of the year. Maybe it's a little early, but that's where I'm at right now!

In the case of OBAA, "masterpiece" is not hyperbole.

- 10/10