"One Battle After Another"

 

Last weekend (October 11th) I went to see "One Battle After Another," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, and others. I was excited to see this film because parts of it were filmed in Sacramento, and I anticipated grooving out over recognizable scenes. The promotions also suggested this movie might be Hollywood's first take on ICE raids, and so I was interested in that too.

The Sacramento scenes were there, but at least initially I had trouble finding my groove.  The premise of the movie seemed absurd to me.  The comic-book-like character of Perfidia seemed based on Tupac Shakur's mother Efeni Shakur as portrayed somewhat-unrealistically in the 2017 film "All Eyez On Me."  It was all too much removed from reality for me.  And why is Benicio del Toro's character running an Underground Railroad for undocumented children?  Not explained well enough for me to catch.

So, by halfway through the film, I was in distress.

Then, the movie started to become charming.  Leonardo DiCaprio is charming as all get out.  That's probably why people like to cast him.  In the Sicario movies I didn't like Benicio del Toro's character, but I liked his whimsicality and unflappability here.  Plus, Sean Penn commits 100% to his character.

Then they had the car chase scenes.  I had to overlook the fact that these scenes were filmed sometimes hundreds of miles apart, but California does have some excellent scenery available for filming car chases.  Plus, there aren't enough car chases in movies these days (probably insanely expensive).

So, the movie is a mixed bag, but I'll give it a thumbs up.  The movie stars one of Sacramento's Light Rail trains, the Sacramento Superior Courthouse, scenes near the Rail Yards, the J St./Fair Oaks bridge over the American River that all filmmakers love to use, and numerous alleys.

Cause that's what movies are all about. That, and car chases.

Plus, Leonardo DiCaprio is charming.