Greetings again from the darkness. My immediate reaction after viewing this film was that it represented the highest level of filmmaking – including superb acting, a complex story that fits today’s narrative, and the most varied and diverse score I can recall from many years of moviegoing. After a couple of days to mull it over, I believe it’s possible that my initial reaction somehow underrated this instant classic. High praise should be no surprise since the film is the work of writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson – the man behind such cinematic gems as LICORICE PIZZA (2021), PHANTOM THREAD (2017), THE MASTER (2012), THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007), PUNCH DRUNK LOVE (2002), MAGNOLIA (1999), BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997), and HARD EIGHT (1996).
Anderson has been nominated for eleven Oscars over the years, and here he adapts the 1990 Thomas Pynchon novel “Vineland”. While the novel is set in the 1980’s, Anderson structures his film in such a manner that much post-viewing conversation will focus on its synchronicity to our current political landscape/battlefield. Remarkably, Anderson has delivered a film that features stunning action sequences, cutting political satire, and touching personal drama. It’s almost too much to ask of any one movie, and is very likely a bit too much for some movie goers.
As the film opens, a resistance movement called French 75, led by Perfidia Beverly Hills (powerhouse Teyana Taylor) is doing their thing with help from explosives expert Pat (Leonardo DiCaprio). With the excitement of fulfilling their mission, Perfida and Pat fall for each other – a shared cause can do that. Mucking up the movement and the relationship (unbeknownst to Pat) is a militant with the memorable name of Colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn). Lockjaw is laser-focused on stopping the resistance – in fact, the only thing that can stop him is a creepy attraction to Perfida, who uses his weakness to her advantage.
A jaw-dropping visual occurs as we see a (very) pregnant Perfida firing an automatic weapon during target practice. Soon after the baby is born, Perfida (not the mothering type) takes off, and Pat, now underground and known as Bob Ferguson, is left to raise the child. Flash forward 16 years, and teenage Willa (the terrific movie debut of Chase Infiniti) and her father are living a quiet life. She’s a tough, but normal high schooler with friends, while he has dulled his mind and outlook with drugs and alcohol … unable to remember the secret password when Colonel Lockjaw tracks him down. French 75 loyalist Deandra (Regina Hall) finds a safe house for Willa, as Bob frantically bounds around town until Willa’s Sensei (Benecio Del Toro) offers to help him. This sensei also hides his own secrets, as Del Toro sprinkles in his patented one-liners.
There is so much going on here, and I’m only now getting to the Christmas Adventurers Club – a clandestine group of white supremacists motivated by racism and lust for power and purity. It’s a club Col Lockjaw desperately wants to be admitted to. In fact, racism hovers over much of the film, with the resistance attempting to defy it through radicalism and extremism … although which side is the most radical or extreme could (and has) carried debates for quite a while.
Three Oscar winning actors are featured here: DiCaprio, Penn, and Del Toro. All three are excellent, but it’s Sean Penn’s Lockjaw that will likely stick with you. Delving into caricature at times, Penn employs many stereotypes, a distinct strut, and a few facial ticks to go with his one weakness in creating a character that we can’t help but laugh at, while also being a bit frightened of his persona. DiCaprio’s Pat/Bob runs the gamut from revolutionary to a Lebowski-type fleeing in his ratty bathrobe. His look varies throughout with varying hairstyles and wardrobes. His father-daughter relationship is truly the heart of the film, and is exceptional drama.
The supporting cast is excellent and includes Alana Haim, Shayna McHayle, Tony Goldwyn, Kevin Tighe, DW Moffett, John Hoogenakker, and Jena Malone … many familiar faces and a great deal of talent. Cinematographer Michael Bauman (back with Anderson after LICORICE PIZZA) delivers the action sequences, the dramatic moments, and a couple of car chases … one which will live on in infamy. Filmed in VistaVision (I saw it in IMAX), there is a mesmerizing car chase through and over and down a hilly desert highway. It’s unlike any car chase I’ve seen, and had me leaning forward in my seat trying to get a look ahead.
This is a story that covers quite a few years and just about as many topics as you’d like to associate with it. There is a nod to THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1966), which was another film about the fight for freedom. One note that I’m unsure how to address is the score from frequent Anderson collaborator Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead guitarist). It’s simply fantastic the way Greenwood melds diverse music with the numerous shifts in tone of the characters and story. As for filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, it’s subjective as to whether he has outdone his previous stellar work, yet I can confidently label this one as both bleak and funny, while also thrilling, chilling, and timely.
Opens in theaters on September 26, 2025
Posted by David Ferguson 
Greetings again from the darkness. So how do we fill the gap with solo action-thrillers now that Liam Neeson is making comedies? It’s a bit surprising, but some creativity and thinking outside the box occurred with the casting of two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson in this latest from director Brian Kirk (21 BRIDGES, 2019). The story comes from two first time screenwriters, both known for other talents. Nicholas Jacobson-Larson is best known as a composer, while Dalton Leeb is an actor.
Greetings again from the darkness. Here is my PSA (Public Service Announcement): This is not a “Football” movie. If you are expecting FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS or ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, you will be disappointed. This is a Psychological Horror film (think BLACK SWAN) featuring a couple of football players, and it’s produced by Jordan Peele, he of NOPE and GET OUT fame. Writer-director Justin Tipping (KICKS, 2016) and co-writers (co-creators of “Limetown”) Zack Aker and Skip Bronkie serve up few X’s and O’s, and plenty of commentary on fame and the quest for greatness.
Greetings again from the darkness. Car chases are prevalent throughout movie history. Some are quite exhilarating and famous: BULLITT (1968) and THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971). Some are over-the-top: pretty much every driving sequence in the F&F franchise. The directorial debut of writer-director Shawn Simmons revolves around a talented getaway driver, and there are certainly a couple of heart-pumping sequences, but the movie is as much a look at how bad decisions impact one particular character, Edie.
Greetings again from the darkness. “A gritty thriller” is a frequently used description that, when heard or read, typically elicits red flags from this movie watcher. However, exceptions to the rule are welcome and writer-director Nick Rowland (CALM WITH HORSES, 2019) has delivered just that with this adaptation of Jordan Hopper’s 2017 novel. The screenplay is co-written by SUPER DARK TIMES (2017) collaborators Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.
Greetings again from the darkness. It’s frightening to see how societal norms and individual behavior have shifted over the past five years. It seems clear that the COVID Pandemic was a turning point … or at a minimum, an accelerant. Writer-director Ari Aster (MIDSOMMER, 2019; HEREDITARY, 2018) uses this as a theme in this Neo-noir Western that takes place in a small fictional town in 2020 New Mexico as the pandemic was kicking into gear.
Greetings again from the darkness. It’s been 32 years since John Hammond “spared no expense” on ice cream and Chaos Theory Doctor Malcolm pleaded that the colorful jeep “must go faster”. That 1993 film by Steven Spielberg awed us and changed the course of cinema. Now director Gareth Edwards (ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, 2016; GODZILLA, 2014) brings us the seventh film in the ‘Jurassic’ franchise. Having adapted Michael Crichton’s books for the first two in the series, renowned screenwriter David Koepp (who has also contributed to Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones, and Spider-Man franchises, among others) returns for “Rebirth”.
Greetings again from the darkness. I can’t explain why auto racing movies have always appealed to me. This dates back to such classics as GRAND PRIX (1966, with James Garner), WINNING (1969, with Paul Newman), and LE MANS (1971, with Steve McQueen). Toss in the more recent films like SENNA (2010), RUSH (2013), and FORD V FERRARI (2019), and that’s a lot of roaring engines and squealing tires on the track and the big screen. Writer-director Joseph Kosinski is no stranger to movies with stunning action and movement and speed as evidenced by his TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022), OBLIVION (2013), and TRON LEGACY (2010). Kosinski co-wrote the story here with Ehren Kruger, his screenwriter from that high-flying 2022 gem.
Greetings again from the darkness. We should all be so fortunate to have a friend as loyal as Leslie, and we should strive to be wiser than Kate so that we don’t ever have the need to test that friend’s loyalty. Director Michael Pearce (ENCOUNTER, 2021) is working with a script from screenwriter Brad Ingelsby (the excellent “Mare of Easttown”, OUT OF THE FURNACE, 2018), and a superb cast to deliver a thriller that offers both familiar territory and twists and turns in a film that is ultimately relatively entertaining to watch.
Greetings again from the darkness. I’ll admit to being braced for a low-budget horror movie that would have more in common with SHARKNADO than JAWS. This genre film from director Sean Byrne and screenwriter Nick Lepard is neither of those films, but certainly holds its own as terror on the open sea.
