Ah arrogance, thy name is Lucasian

This time I saw the “unrated director’s cut”. And, I swear, this version felt like a misunderstood almost-masterpiece.

It’s strange that the longer cut (almost 30 minutes longer) feels much shorter, or at least less-cluttered, but there it is. With the material given proper room to breathe and move at a more appropriate pace, McCarthy’s flowery dialogue became a grim pleasure, and his intentions are plainer, too. he’s not writing a straight thriller, nor is he striving for strict realism, rather he’s telling a noirish moral fable in chic gangster-movie drag. The story’s not meant to power forward but gradually layer meaning and anticipation before, KA-CHING, snapping shut like a bear-trap. It’s a nightmare of overestimated privilege. It stung, really stung, even though I already knew where the plot was headed. The actors are better served (some might say “indulged”) in this longer cut, too, revealing enough depth that their hideous characters – while still hideous – become grotesquely fascinating. And even that tasteless flashback where Cameron Diaz you-know-whats a sports-car’s windshield rang differently. I don’t know if they altered the scene itself or if the longer cut just creates a better context for it, but it now felt less like misogynist guff from artists old enough to know better, and more like a direct critique of the intimidated men telling the story – where I was embarrassed for Diaz the first time, this time she OWNS that scene.

It’s still such a strange film, not to mention bleak and cold as a Moscow winter, that I wouldn’t in good conscience recommend it to everyone. But for anyone who enjoys a walk on the wild side of commercial cinema – anyone who, like me, felt that the original cut of The Counselor was a potentially good film gone bad – I’d say the unrated extended edition is totally worth checking out.

You’re that pathetic loser that hangs around Jeff Wells’ website complaining about Abrams under various personas, aren’t you? Ha ha ha. Get a healthier hobby.

I bet you loved The Force Awakens.

No, he’s just a straight talker. Refreshing after years of listening to the puerile PR spiel of yes-men like JJ Abrams.

Brilliant film, went right over the heads of most.

Playing James Cameron?

Oh, and – whilst I loved ‘The Counselor’ – it was still a film about a chick that has sex with a car. There is a ceiling to how successful a film like that can be and Fox should be credited, not disparaged, for supporting such a bold venture. And the marketing was perfectly fine. The trailers and TV spots looked cool, whilst the posters put the film stars front and center. The reviews just weren’t there to propel it to wider success. And it started Michael Fassbender, an actor we now know is not a draw unless he is wearing Magneto’s helmet. Scott doesn’t mention Fassbender’s lack of drawing power in films like ‘Steve Jobs’, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ or ‘Alien Covenant’, does he?

There’s nothing wrong with being ‘honest’ but Scott seems to totally lack self-awareness with his comments.