One Battle After Another is the new film from auteur writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, who in this writer’s opinion boasts the most interesting filmography of his generation of film-makers.  I would stack Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, and (to tip my hand a tad) One Battle After Another, against Tarantino’s carefully curated catalogue, or Wes Anderson’s sad journey into self-parody. But let’s not get side-tracked. The film…

One Battle After Another is a political film, one cannot help but notice that from the outset. A group of revolutionaries, or domestic terrorists if you like, called the French 75, smuggle a large number of migrants from a detainment centre. Later they blow up government buildings and facilities, and seem to be having the times of the lives. There will undoubtedly be those who are immediately turned off by this. Political tribalism is a sad part of our culture. However, the film does not romanticise these characters and their actions. Perfidia (Tayana Taylor), who is the leader of the group, appears to be a nymphomaniac; she demands to be fucked when she and Pat, the team’s bomb-man played by Leonardo DiCaprio, run from a charge that has just been set. In one key moment, she demands that Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn), who is the chief of the migrant detainment centre that they take down, achieve an erection while she holds him at gun point. Later, when he in turn tracks her down, she performs a sexual act on him, which, while off camera, one surmises is a little off the beaten track, so to speak. One is never sure whether these revolutionary characters are true believers or whether they are just in it for the thrills and spills.

Race and racism is a major driving force behind the plot, which, after a 16 year time-jump, revolves around Colonel Lockjaw hunting down the members of the French 75  in order to cleanse himself of his physical dalliance with a black woman. This is essential to Lockjaw as he wants nothing more than to join a clandestine fellowship of white supremacists called the Christmas Adventurers, who would not look kindly on his infraction of their code. However, there is a tinge of racism shown in Pat’s character also. Early on in the movie, after an exciting revolutionary escapade, he yells that he loves black girls. As if black girls are a generic group with a certain novelty value that makes them sexually alluring. Indeed, Lockjaw shares exactly the same sentiment, which led to his own dangerous attraction to Perfidia. In short, it would be fair to say that One Battle After Another is a little more nuanced than some viewers may think on first watch. Having said all of that, the ultimate villains of the piece are clearly the group of cloak-and-dagger white supremacists, who operate out of deep, luxurious bunkers, pulling strings for their own nefarious ends. There is not the slightest hint of ambiguity, or subtlety here. But it is darkly funny in an exaggerated, absurdist way.

There are also nice riffs on the difference between progressive types of the past and now, that take place after the aforementioned jump forward to the present. The French 75 have gone to ground and taken on assumed identities. Pat is now called Bob and has been raising his mixed raced daughter, Willa (Infinity Chase), alone, Perfidia having fled the country. Pat / Bob, is now a paranoid mess who simply cannot understand his now teenaged daughter’s friends, and somewhat hysterically asks what he should call her non-binary friend. “They? Them?” He’s just trying to be polite, he screams. Again, the film does not force us to take sides. You could just easily shout “They” at the screen as you could roll your eyes at the grammatical absurdity.

Okay, now let’s put politics aside. One Battle After Another is a thrilling experience from start to finish. Anderson’s film, despite it’s near 3-hour runtime, never lags. There are scenes of wild comedy largely delivered by DiCaprio, whose character is so frazzled by booze and drugs that when his past comes looking for him in the form of Colonel Lockjaw, he can no longer remember the code words he needs to re-engage with the revolution and is left screaming with increasing frustration down the phone at an officious revolutionary who lectures him on the importance of studying his handbook. There is also action and suspense aplenty, be-it Bob escaping through a tunnel beneath his cabin in the woods, only to emerge be-shitted through an ancient latrine; a night-time roof-top escape where a very middle-aged DiCaprio fails to keep up with a group of young revolutionaries who look like they could fund their operation by posting parkour videos on Youtube; or a climatic car chase scene which is legitimately one of the greats of its ilk committed to the screen.

The performances are all magnificent, but one must single out Sean Penn, whose portrayal of the hapless villain Colonel Lockjaw is one for the ages, and reminds one of this singular actor’s brilliance. No list of great actors of the last 50 years would be complete without Sean Penn’s name on it – near the top judging by this performance. His Colonel Lockjaw speaks in a guttural, clipped monotone, has an awkward waddling walk that suggest previous injury, and has the strange facial tick of protruding his lower teeth and using them to scrape his top-lip. He is a monster, who wants nothing more than to be loved… admittedly by a group of white supremacist super-villains… which makes him both repulsive, and pathetic. Lockjaw is a very human monster. Sean Penn also manages to mine the part for plenty of comedic value. In one memorable scene he is asked mockingly why is wearing such a tight vest (which shows off an enormous set of biceps, by the way) and Lockjaw answers that he is not a homosexual with such vehemence and immediacy that the line becomes hilarious. It’s as if the fear of being mistaken for gay has been at the forefront of Lockjaw’s mind to such an extent that he cannot help but blurt out this non-sequitur at the slightest provocation.

As has been reported ad nauseam, One Battle After Another faces an uphill battle to profitability. Warner Bros. have been on a refreshing hot streak of hits including the truly brilliant vampire flick Sinners and the flawed but very enjoyable Weapons. However, despite Leo in a leading role there seems to be a little faith in Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie. This is a shame, as One Battle After Another is that rare thing, a great movie and a real crowd pleaser.

One Battle After Another is now on wide release.

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