The films of Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) are favorites of mine due to their quirky characters, unusual plots, and interesting twists in the plot line. “One Battle After Another,” despite its cumbersome title, does not deviate from past PTA movies. It is compelling and has the usual lineup of unique characters. I was engaged throughout the picture even though its run time is long at 2 hours and 41 minutes.

Sometime in the past, the French 75 revolutionary group is gathered in preparation for liberating a government installation holding undocumented immigrants. Pat (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an expert in explosives. Perfidia (Teyana Taylor) is his lover and lives for the danger of the moment.

While liberating the occupants of the camp in a smooth operation, Perfidia confronts Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn). She engages in sexual flirtation with him as she dominates him.

Later as the group is committing another act of bombing, Lockjaw surprises Perfidia in the act. Instead of arresting her, he invites her to come see him. They engage in sex over a period of time.

Perfidia becomes pregnant and gives birth to Charlene. Pat is in love with the baby and wants to engage less and less in dissident action. Perfidia, however, cannot give up the excitement she feels as an operative, even though she now is a mother.

During a botched bank robbery, Perfidia kills a security guard. The gang is pursued and Perfidia is captured. Lockjaw discusses a plea deal with Perfidia: less prison time for ratting out the other members of the French 75. Perfidia agrees. Later she escapes custody and flees to Mexico.

Several members of French 75 are executed rather than detained by the authorities. Pat is forced to leave town with Charlene. He goes to a sanctuary city, Baktan Cross, under the assumed name Bob. Charlene becomes Willa.

Years later, Willa (Chase Infiniti) is now 16. She lives with Bob in a small house. He does not allow her to carry a cellphone. Instead they each have a device that can detect where the other is if they are close enough.

Lockjaw meanwhile has been approached by a secret white supremacist group, the Christmas Adventurers, as bizarre as they sound. They are concerned with racial purity. Lockjaw denies having sex with someone of another race, even though Perfidia is African-American.

Concerned about his membership chances in the odd group, Lockjaw realizes that he needs to find Charlene/Willa who is a loose end from his affair with Perfidia. Arresting an underground radio broadcaster, Lockjaw discovers that Willa may be in Baktan Cross.

He marshals the Armed Forces, ostensibly to raid Baktan Cross, a known sanctuary city, and detain undocumented immigrants. Willa meanwhile has gone out with her teenage friends to party. When the military come to Bob’s house, he escapes through an underground tunnel. Will Lockjaw find Willa? Is he her parent, not Bob?

My favorite PTA films are “Boogie Nights” (1997) and “Magnolia” (1999). They had multiple character arcs and plots that you could not predict.

“One Battle After Another” is more focused on three main characters: Bob, Lockjaw, and Willa, and, to a lesser degree, Perfidia and Sensei Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro), Willa’s martial arts instructor. The script does a great job developing their idiosyncrasies and mannerisms.

The screenplay also does a great job in mixing comedic moments with dramatic ones. This is especially so in the Baktan Cross second half of the movie. Even though the stakes are sometimes high, these lighter moments helped relieve the tension in a way that seemed utterly organic to me.

The themes of the film are sometimes frighteningly similar to today’s current events. The rounding up undocumented immigrants, detention without due process and detention of minors are portrayed here.

White supremacy, in the guise of the Christmas Adventurers, is shown as well. Even though the group seems absurd in its organization, it is an effective killing machine when it wants to get its way.

I grew weary of the character of Bob. He is portrayed in his Baktan Cross setting as a stoner, who is barely capable of functioning let alone having a job. He was given code language to remember if he ever needed to contact French 75 again, and of course he cannot remember it. His antics as he goes on the chase for Willa seemed repetitive and tedious.

In the same way, I felt that del Toro was underutilized in his capacity as the de facto leader of the undocumented community. He is charming as always and effective in his role. But he is not in many scenes and his arc is not well-resolved.

Penn’s portrayal of Lockjaw sometimes seems over-the-top in its rigidity. The acting is consistent, however, as Penn does not break character. His aspirations lead him to do questionable and sometimes stupid things. Penn is a powerful presence whenever he is on screen and this picture is no exception.

Teyana Taylor is superb as Perfidia. Definitely a flawed character, Perfidia’s ardor and amorous affairs are deftly and consistently portrayed by Taylor. Perfidia’s absence in the second half of the film is a loss for the audience.

Chase Infiniti, however, picks up the slack in the second half, with her outstanding performance as Willa. She is both a rebellious teen and someone who does what her father taught her to do in case they are caught or are in danger.

The editing of any PTA movie always is a critical element. “One Battle After Another” does not disappoint, especially in the second half where the action gets fast and furious.

The length of this work may be daunting to viewers, but as I previously said, the time just flew by as I watched this picture.

Four out of five stars

Bob is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces after 16 years and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her with help from a group of ex-revolutionaries, as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti
Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Loosely based on the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

https://www.onebattleafteranothermovie.com/