Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Counselor
2013

Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Rosie Perez, Natalie Dormer

An unnamed lawyer hopes to score big by taking part in a drug deal, although everyone tells him that the Mexican cartel shows no mercy should things go wrong. And things go wrong. Cormac McCarthy's novels have been turned into films, which range from awful (All the Pretty Horses) to brilliant (The Road). Ridley Scott's adaptation of McCarthy's first original screenplay lands firmly in the first category. It tells an unoriginal story about uninteresting characters, who cite pretentious and over-dramatic dialogue through some bizarre scenes which seem to exist only to signpost upcoming events.