I come to you today to say…I don’t think I watched this movie correctly. Unpopular opinion incoming. I don’t get the Oscar buzz for this one. I love the people in the film. I love the journey they took me on, but I felt like I was missing something as I continued to watch this film. It jumped around to things that did not make sense to me in the scope of what I was watching. Let me explain…
“One Battle After Another” is the story of the French 75, an American rebel group who is for all things involving freedom. We meet the crew as they plan to free a bunch of detainees from a military holding. You’ll discover later how they fund their operation. Now, I figured that the movie would be a lot about what these men and women did in the name of freedom, with Perfidia Beverly Hills (played by Teyana Taylor–my fave!) at the helm, and the consequences of that. I was partly correct…I think. Well, in true movie fashion, they trap one of their big fish (Perfidia) and the whole operation has to go underground and in hiding after all the bombings, robberies, and other freedom work had been done. I figured, based on trailers, that Perfidia died and the whole story with Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio’s character. This is also not his actual name) and Charlene/Willa would make more sense. Boy, was I wrong. At a certain point in this film, I was transported back to “Lovecraft Country” complete with a shared actor in Tony Goldwyn. Remember when Tony Goldwyn played Samuel Braithwhite in the show and he wanted to use Tic’s blood to access the Garden of Eden and become immortal? You might also recall that he was part of the Order of the Ancient Dawn which is a group of all white men who believed in the purity of the white man…but there was an exception for Tic because of his bloodline. This isn’t the exact same role but I couldn’t help but draw that line.
Let me back up some. Bob and Perfidia are madly in love. If you watch the movie, you get it in every single scene. We get it. You all love each other. So much so that the movie makes it very apparent that Bob and Perfidia have sex often. I want to pause here for just a second. Bob is only with the French 75 for Perfidia. I don’t recall how this group started. I don’t recall if they told us how Bob and Perfidia became one, but what I do know is that Bob was only here for her and because of his bomb tech knowledge. Bob, in no way, shape, or form, was made for this type of commitment. During that mission I was talking about earlier from the beginning of the movie, we are introduced Sean Penn’s character Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, who will be a pain for everyone involved indefinitely. So…there’s a weird exchange between Lockjaw and Perfidia. I feel like her demands of him in his quarters was supposed to make him feel helpless with Perfidia diminishing and conquering that power he usually wields. That’s…sort of what happens but not really. Instead, both are turned on by what she’s making him do and later meet up to have a one time rendezvous.
Fast forward, Perfidia is pregnant that does not slow her down, mind you. She’s still rocking and rolling with this belly! Her and Bob have a beautiful baby girl they name Charlene. Remember when I told you all that Bob was there for Perfidia? Now that Charlene is here, Bob is only there for Charlene. Honestly, he might have been looking for a way out and the baby was it. Just a hunch. Perfidia keeps with her team. That’s the family she knows and the family that, in her opinion, doesn’t treat her any different than before, unlike Bob. Well, Perfidia, Bob knew when it was time to retire. Prefidia gets caught by, you guessed it, Lockjaw (who really just wanted to see her again to possibly be with her or something. Do you see why I’m confused if I watch the movie correctly?). Some of the crew gets rounded up while some escape, including Bob and Charlene.
This is where it gets saucy. Perfidia snitched on the French 75, and in return, she was put in Witness Protection. Lockjaw thinks he has her exactly where he wants her…except…she escapes. Never to be seen again. She doesn’t die like I thought. Later, we learn that Lockjaw wants to be a member of the “Christmas Adventurers Club,” which sounds cute until you realize it’s a white supremacists groups lead by Virgil Throckmorton (Tony Goldwyn). Now, it should be curling all the way over for you.
Here’s what I could not understand. Lockjaw fell in love with Perfidia, and maybe she did, too (I really don’t know, yall). Anyway, I’m not sure if he always wanted to join this group or if he was upset she left and decided to join this group as a twisted way to try and find her. He was really trying to find out if the child that she had was his. This storyline, for me, was unnecessary. I don’t know why we needed this part of the story. It felt…out of place with everything else going on in the story.
For the rest of the movie we have a calm and collected Sergio St Carlos (Benicio del Toro), an underused Regina Hall as Deandra, and a bumbling and very frustrated Bob. I’m glad I learned this movie is classified as a dark comedy because I laughed a lot at this film. Bob remembering NOTHING made me laugh more times than I care to admit. And no, Brittany (my best friend who I watched this with), you can’t just give him the information without the time. What if he was on the phone with the FBI? What if it was someone else and not actually Bob? You got to have rules and stick to them or what are the rules even for?! This weird side love story that had to result in a murder was not needed. Just have the government looking for these people and kidnap the kid as ransom or as a way to lurk the French 75 out of hiding. I don’t know that Lockjaw needed to be in danger, too. We, as an audience, was probably rooting for the people to find him and kill him. Yet, when they did, it wasn’t as satisfying as I would have liked. Also, when we found out he wasn’t dead, why did he rising remind me of Michael in the last movie when we literally tried everything to kill this MAN!
Overall, this movie was a joy to watch…until I got to the white supremacist parts. Throw them away. Didn’t matter to me. Also, how dare you people not tell me Wood Harris was in this film?! He, Regina Hall, and Benicio del Toro were gems in this film and I didn’t get enough of them!
Last but not least, did anyone else not get the motivation for Perfidia to rat out her French 75 family? To be the person you showed me she was, I’m not sure that would be a natural thing for her to do. Can anyone explain that one?
What did you all think?
