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The Counselor

Play trailer Poster for The Counselor R 2013 1h 57m Mystery & Thriller Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
34% Tomatometer 217 Reviews 24% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
A Bentley-driving Texas lawyer (Michael Fassbender) appears to have it all, including a beautiful fiancée named Laura (Penélope Cruz) -- but his financial needs force him to become involved in an ill-advised drug deal. His partners in the venture include middleman Westray (Brad Pitt), shady nightclub owner Reiner (Javier Bardem) and Malkina (Cameron Diaz), Reiner's sociopathic lover. Unsurprisingly, the counselor's deal spirals out of control, placing both him and Laura in mortal danger.
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The Counselor

The Counselor

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Critics Consensus

The Counselor raises expectations with its talented cast and creative crew -- then subverts them with a wordy and clumsy suspense thriller that's mercilessly short on suspense or thrills.

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Critics Reviews

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh metro.co.uk 09/06/2017
2/5
It's like watching a movie in another language. Go to Full Review
Alissa Wilkinson Christianity Today 04/13/2016
2.5/4
[McCarthy] reminds us (with a particularly American sensibility) that this world is broken and tragic and not fair, and that pushing past that fact too fast is an error we can't afford to make, for the good of our souls. Go to Full Review
Wesley Morris Grantland 12/10/2013
It's filthy, nasty, sexy, absurd, appalling, and exhilarating, and it succeeds as a musky union of novelist Cormac McCarthy's bleakness and Ridley Scott's sense of chic. Go to Full Review
Mike Thorn In Review Online 10/10/2024
The Counselor shows Scott’s pessimism alongside his obsessions with visual design and environment... Go to Full Review
JD Duran InSession Film 08/15/2024
D+
The movie tries to be outside the box but only lives in despair and lifeless blunder. Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review 08/22/2022
4/4
Just as he's done in many of his novels, McCarthy's first screenplay follows his stylized, almost mythically cynicism with unwavering detachment and insight. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Jack P @filmthrill172 3d The Counselor is seriously underrated. It’s dark, stylish and deliberately cold, with sharp dialogue and a constant sense that something terrible is coming. It definitely isn’t for everyone, but that’s part of what makes it interesting. The direction is confident, the performances are strong, and the film refuses to play by the usual crime-thriller rules. Strange, brutal and much better than its reputation suggests. See more J J @MFilms7 3d Seriously Cool The Counselor is just a cool film. Ridley Scott gives everything a slick, expensive look — great locations, sharp clothes, beautiful cars and characters who seem completely at home in this dangerous world. There’s a confidence to it that I really like. It’s dark, stylish and doesn’t feel the need to explain everything to you. Fassbender is excellent, the dialogue has its own strange rhythm, and there’s a constant feeling that something very bad is coming. It may not be for everyone, but as a stylish, grown-up crime thriller, I think it’s seriously underrated. See more Chris S @Janomi Jul 19 The Counselor is extremely disappointing, especially with this much talent involved. Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, Penélope Cruz, and Brad Pitt should make the movie gripping, and there is some interest in watching actors this good take on such strange, heavy material. Javier Bardem is one of the few performers who gives the film real personality. Reiner is bizarre, flashy, nervous, and oddly funny, and Bardem cuts through the stiffness better than anyone else. Ridley Scott also gives the movie a cold, polished look, creating a world that feels cruel, dangerous, and unforgiving. The biggest problem is the dialogue. Almost every conversation sounds like a philosophical speech about death, greed, sex, evil, or fate, and the characters rarely feel like real people. The movie wants to be a ruthless morality tale, but it is too emotionally distant to land. A few bright spots aside, it feels slow, pretentious, unpleasant, and lifeless. See more Ale F @RT21213957 Jul 17 Bad, bad, bad film. The dialogue is lengthy and pompous, dressed up as philosophy to trick people into thinking they’re hearing something intelligent, when really they’re just being force-fed verbal diarrhoea. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else besides the dialogue, and the plot is almost embarrassingly thin. A real waste of great actors. See more Chris S @Chris850 Jul 9 Just set your expectations before you watch this, I was halfway through and still had no idea what was going on, other than a lawyer works for a drug dealer. That said, the acting is superb and the cinematography is worth watching alone. No cringe situations either. It’s worth watching if you’re on the fence. If you can handle that there really isn’t any story here, you will be fine. See more Absolute Slop T @AbsoluteSlop Jul 5 Was this an experiment to see if a star filled cast could save a director and script? I don't even know what this was about. It's like a movie Martin Scorsese started and finished writing while taking a short crap. And Brad Pitt is not a good actor. See more Read all reviews
The Counselor

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Movie Info

Synopsis A Bentley-driving Texas lawyer (Michael Fassbender) appears to have it all, including a beautiful fiancée named Laura (Penélope Cruz) -- but his financial needs force him to become involved in an ill-advised drug deal. His partners in the venture include middleman Westray (Brad Pitt), shady nightclub owner Reiner (Javier Bardem) and Malkina (Cameron Diaz), Reiner's sociopathic lover. Unsurprisingly, the counselor's deal spirals out of control, placing both him and Laura in mortal danger.
Director
Ridley Scott
Producer
Ridley Scott, Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, Paula Mae Schwartz
Screenwriter
Cormac McCarthy
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Scott Free Productions, Chockstone Pictures, Nick Wechsler
Rating
R (Language|Graphic Violence|Some Grisly Images|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 25, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 10, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$16.9M
Runtime
1h 57m
Sound Mix
Datasat, Dolby Stereo
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