Stubs - One Battle After Another

One Battle After Another (2025) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson. Based on Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. Produced by Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson. Run time: 162 minutes. Color. USA Black Comedy, Action, Thriller

What is the highest grossing film of Paul Thomas Anderson’s career, a possible Academy Award contender and still considered a box-office failure? The answer is his 2025 film One Battle After Another, loosely based on the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. A modernized version of the novel, with some of Anderson’s own stories incorporated into the narrative, One Battle After Another deals with revolutionaries of the early 2000’s, the French 75, and how actions 16 plus years ago still have consequences.

To be honest, this wasn’t necessarily a film I would have chosen to see. Some of that has to do with Leonardo DiCaprio, who is the star of the film. While he’s often called a great actor, I haven’t really been a fan of the films he’s starred in. However, because the scuttlebutt seems to indicate the film will be popular during awards season, which is now until the Academy Awards, it seemed like one to watch, which I recently did on HBO Max.

The story seems to center around a couple of revolutionaries, members of the French 75, "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is white, and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), who is black. Perfidia also ends up having an affair with Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), an officer that she initially humiliates during one of the group's missions to free incarcerated immigrants. Perfidia continues her revolutionary ways and gives birth to Charlene Calhoun (Chase Infiniti). After Perfidia is captured, Pat and Charlene go undercover and end up in a sanctuary city, Baktan Cross, and live as Bob and Willa Ferguson.

On the run but forgetting the password, Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Sixteen years later, it turns out Lockjaw is a white supremacist and wants to join a like-minded secret society, the Christmas Adventurers Club. It wouldn’t be good for him if it is found out he has a mixed-race daughter, so he tries to hide that by finding and killing her. The raids he leads against illegal immigrants and crime come to Baktan Cross, looking for her. Bob, by now, has checked out of the revolutionary scene and he relies on local revolutionaries led by Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro), who is also a martial arts instructor, to get him out of town and find Willa, who has been whisked away by Deandra (Regina Hall), another member of the French 75.

 Benicio del Toro as Sergio St. Carlos, who was my favorite character.

Comparisons have been made with Dr. Strangelove (1964), since both are considered to be black comedies. However, outside of some names, especially Lockjaw, which seems to be in line with Col. Bat Guano from Strangelove, I didn’t get that vibe. There is humor especially supplied by Benicio del Toro’s Sergio St. Carlos, who uses the spirituality of martial arts to remain calm when all around him are freaking out, especially Bob Ferguson. While Sergio is a minor character, he is my favorite in the film.

Sean Penn as Col. Lockjaw.

Sean Penn brings his A-game as Col. Lockjaw. He is a character that is easy to hate and he never changes. Cruel and bigoted, the character puts his own desires over the law. Penn has come a long way from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and I would imagine he’ll be well-remembered when Awards season kicks into high gear.

I was unfamiliar with Chase Infiniti’s work, but she does a very good job as a young girl thrown into a life-or-death situation. Her performance has already been nominated for the Critic’s Choice Movie Award and for a Golden Globe.

All of the actors do good work, including DiCaprio. Bob is a complex character. Originally known as “Rocketman” for his use of pyrotechnics, he has long ago checked out of his revolutionary ways. He has an interesting relationship with his daughter, who also takes care of him. But when the moment calls, he answers. But no matter how good his performance is, I believe Sean Penn's is the best in the film.

The story seems to be both set out of time and to also be addressing current issues. The revolutionaries, in the book the film is based on, are from the radical 60s, but the early terrorist actions at the beginning of the film would have had to have happened within this century, based on the ages of the characters. However, the white supremacist movement that they end up fighting seems to be all too relevant for our time. And Col. Lockjaw could represent how the current government is in bed with these right-wing radicals. Just saying.

While I liked the film more than I expected I would, this is not a film I would necessarily want to watch again, which for me is the opposite of what a Best Picture should be. And while I think Frankenstein was a better film in that respect, the Academy’s recent record, except for Oppenheimer, on Best Pictures would definitely make One Battle After Another a front-runner.