The Counselor (spelled The Counsellor in some markets) is a 2013 American thriller film directed by Ridley Scott, from the first original film screenplay by Cormac McCarthy.
Trailer
The plot revolves around the troubled Juarez, Mexico / Texas border area and deals with themes of greed, death, and the primal instincts of humans and their consequences. The film also uses strong imagery exhibiting a good versus evil, hunter versus prey, extra-moral, Nietzschean register. The Counselor has stirred controversy due to its nihilistic tone, plot structure, and an explicit sex scene involving the film's female antagonist and a Ferrari windshield.
The Counselor was chosen as the closing film at the 2013 Morelia Film Festival and also played the Cork Film Festival. The London premiere was held on October 3, 2013 in Leicester Square. The New York City premiere was held on October 9, 2013. The film was theatrically released on October 25, 2013.
Plot
The story begins with a man, known only as "The Counselor" (Fassbender) and his girlfriend Laura (Cruz), lying in bed and flirting. Somewhere in Mexico, cocaine is being packaged in barrels and concealed in a sewage truck. The truck is driven across the border and stored at a sewage treatment plant.
The Counselor goes to Amsterdam on what he claims is a business trip, but is actually a meeting with a diamond dealer in order to purchase an engagement ring for Laura. Back in the United States, the Counselor proposes to Laura, and she accepts. Later, he attends a party at the penthouse owned by Reiner (Bardem) and his girlfriend Malkina (Diaz). The Counselor and Reiner have a lengthy discussion, during which Reiner claims that the Counselor is not capitalizing on his position of power as much as he could be.
The Counselor meets with Westray (Pitt), a business associate, to express interest in a drug deal with a four thousand percent return rate. Westray warns the Counselor about becoming involved in such a deal, saying that Mexican cartels are merciless, particularly to lawyers.
Cast
- Michael Fassbender as The Counselor,
- Penélope Cruz as Laura
- Cameron Diaz as Malkina
- Javier Bardem as Reiner
- Brad Pitt as Westray
- Rosie Perez as Ruth
- Richard Cabral as The Young Man/The Green Hornet
- Natalie Dormer as The Blonde
- Édgar Ramírez as The Priest
- Bruno Ganz as The Diamond Dealer
- Rubén Blades as Jefe
- Goran Višnjić as Michael
- Toby Kebbell as Tony
- Emma Rigby as Tony's Girlfriend
- John Leguizamo as Randy
- Dean Norris as The Buyer
Production
Pre-production
On January 18, 2012, it was reported that novelist Cormac McCarthy had sold his first spec script, The Counselor, to Nick Wechsler, Paula Mae Schwartz, and Steve Schwartz, who had previously produced the film adaptation of McCarthy's novel The Road. On January 31, it was reported that Ridley Scott was currently considering several directorial projects, but that there was a strong possibility that The Counselor would be his next film and his follow-up to Prometheus. On February 9, it was confirmed that Scott would direct.
Filming
Principal photography began on July 27, 2012 in London. The film was also shot in Spain and the United States. On August 20, 2012, Scott halted production of the film due to his brother Tony's death. He canceled that week's shoot in order to travel to Los Angeles to be with his brother's family. Scott returned to London to resume production on September 3.
The film was dedicated to the memory of Tony Scott, who had taken his own life during production, and Matthew Baker, an assistant director on the film who has since died.
The first teaser trailer was released June 25th, 2013.
Design
Costume designer Janty Yates collaborated with Giorgio Armani on the film as a part of a new partnership between Armani and 20th Century Fox that also extends into retail and digital initiatives. Armani was enlisted to create the wardrobes for the characters portrayed by Michael Fassbender and Penélope Cruz.
In addition to Armani, designer Paula Thomas also contributed to the film's wardrobe by dressing Cameron Diaz's character, Malkina, with roughly 15 different outfits. "[It wasn't until] I read the script that I realized why [Scott] called upon me," said Thomas. "[Cameron's] character has a lot of elements of a Thomas Wylde woman. [She's] bold, edgy, modern. She’s about wanting to be seen, as opposed to blending into the background."
For Javier Bardem's character, Yates applied a widely colorful wardrobe that was mostly made up of pieces of Versace. As for Bardem's hair, the idea was the actor's own and inspired by film producer Brian Grazer's hairdo.
Reception
Box office
Preliminary reports had The Counselor tracking for a $8.6–$13 million debut in North America. The film opened to $3.2 million in 3,336 locations on Friday and opened at #4 in the boxoffice with just a cumulative $7,842,930 over the weekend. Despite its modest budget, the film is considered a boxoffice flop in the United States.
Critical response
The Counselor has received negative reviews. The film currently holds a 34% approval rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 131 reviews, with an average score of 4.9/10. The consensus summarizes: “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." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the film has a score of 49 based on 40 reviews, considered to be "mixed or average reviews". It received an average grade of "D" from market-research firm CinemaScore.