One Battle After Another Review: Leonardo DiCaprio Anchors Paul Thomas Anderson's Bold Political Comedy-Drama
Director and Actor Synergy
This audacious, politically charged spectacle manages to be both unsettling and wildly funny. It's not often that a film this ambitious feels so seamless and timely.
The creative force here is Paul Thomas Anderson, while the emotional weight belongs to Leonardo DiCaprio, who takes the lead in One Battle After Another. Playing Bob, a washed-up former radical content with cigarettes and booze, DiCaprio roams around in a plaid robe and beanie while desperately searching for his kidnapped teenage daughter. His goofy mannerisms make the character amusing, but the pain and devotion in his eyes reveal something far deeper.
Anderson's Signature Storytelling
Throughout his career, Anderson has proven himself a filmmaker with a distinctive voice — sharp, witty, elegant, and versatile. From the raw intensity of There Will Be Blood (2007) to the refined craft of Phantom Thread (2017), his work spans styles while maintaining unique clarity.
One Battle After Another draws on the playful chaos of Boogie Nights (1997) and the layered storytelling of Magnolia (1999). It's also his second feature inspired by a Thomas Pynchon novel, following Inherent Vice (2014). Loosely based on Vineland (1990), Anderson updates the premise to the present day, inventing new characters but keeping Pynchon's satirical spirit alive.
Satirical Edge with Real-World Resonance
The film opens at an immigrant detention center, where armed guards patrol behind chain-link fences — imagery that unmistakably echoes real-world headlines. A fictional revolutionary group, the French 75, storms the facility. Among them is Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills, a hardened militant and Bob's lover, with Bob serving as the group's explosives expert.
Here, we also meet the grotesque antagonist, Sean Penn as Captain Steven Lockjaw, whose predatory behavior and racial obsessions mark him as both menacing and absurd. When Perfidia vanishes, abandoning Bob and their child, her name itself becomes a foreshadowing of betrayal.
DiCaprio's Comic Brilliance
The film hits full stride when the narrative leaps 16 years forward. Bob is now a burned-out recluse, watching The Battle of Algiers (1966) on TV, smoking, and drinking. DiCaprio, who previously showcased comedic chops in Catch Me If You Can (2002), shines here again. He captures Bob's bumbling lifestyle with humor, but his tenderness toward his daughter Willa (played with poise by Chase Infiniti) grounds the film emotionally.
Comedy, Tragedy, and Political Bite
As the story unfolds, Lockjaw tries to join the Christmas Adventurers Club, a white supremacist society that Anderson portrays with both horror and biting satire. His hypocrisy, given his fixation on Perfidia, underscores the absurdity.
When Bob's daughter is abducted, he stumbles through desperate attempts to save her, aided by her karate teacher, Benicio del Toro as Sensei. Together, they battle against Lockjaw's militia forces, whose nameless, insignia-free uniforms add a chilling sense of realism.
Spectacle and Contemporary Relevance
The film builds to a breathtaking car chase across barren hills, captured in widescreen VistaVision for maximum scale. From military helicopters to dusty backstreets, the visuals give the film an epic atmosphere.
Critics are already drawing parallels to Salman Rushdie's description of Vineland as "a major political novel about what America has been doing to itself." At a recent Q&A, Steven Spielberg praised Anderson's new work as "more relevant now than when you wrote it."
Final Verdict
With its mix of satire, action, and emotional depth, One Battle After Another is both entertaining and politically charged. Anderson juggles tones and themes with virtuosic skill, while DiCaprio delivers a performance that is both funny and heartfelt.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Film Details
- Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti
- Runtime: 2h 41m
- Release Date: September 26
- Distributor: Universal Pictures
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