The Counselor

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The Counselor

R

2013

1h 57m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

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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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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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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

09/06/2017

2/5

It's like watching a movie in another language.

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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.

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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.

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Mike Thorn

In Review Online

10/10/2024

The Counselor shows Scott’s pessimism alongside his obsessions with visual design and environment...

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JD Duran

InSession Film

08/15/2024

D+

The movie tries to be outside the box but only lives in despair and lifeless blunder.

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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.

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Chris S

@Chris850 4d

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.

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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.

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TheChefCesar Y

@RT28640343 May 17

A waste of time movie , I was very surprised Brad Pitt accepted the role for this horrible movie . Usually he is in very good movies . I want my 1.57 hrs back .

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D. Evan S

@RT61196511 Apr 5

I'm always surprised when I see RT's low rating for this movie. Perhaps a philosophical movie centered on a train wreck happening in slow motion eludes the common palate. I find the movie haunting, a cautionary tale of hubris, of arrogance, greed, lust - when reality exceeds one's delusions of self, of the unrelenting lack of pity the universe extracts from all those, who are even unknowingly, in the path of rapacious predators.

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Luke T

@LightSyson Feb 17

Better than I was lead to believe by other reviews but felt like a whole season of story had been completely shredded. Also I think Cormac Mcarthy really struggles to make characters believable. Every person person speaks philosophically about life and death in EVERY SINGLE SCENE. Felt very inauthentic. It had a strong idea behind it regarding the actual uncaring brutality of the cartel, which I appreciated. Javier Bardem steals the show.

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gerald h

@RottenGary Jan 13

widerlicher, dummer film, der wesentlich mehr vorgibt, als er ist. nur schein.

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Ridley Scott

Director

Michael Fassbender

Counselor

Penélope Cruz

Laura

Cameron Diaz

Malkina

Javier Bardem

Reiner

Brad Pitt

Westray

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Critics Consensus: The Counselor is Eccentric but Uneven

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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