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The PTA Movie We’ve Been Waiting For Since Boogie Nights

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Fifteen minutes into Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another I jotted the note — “The movie we’ve been waiting for since Boogie Nights!”  Sumpthin else I wrote down a couple of times (and thought many more) – “Great cinematic storytelling!”  Words like “riveting” … “engaging” … “exciting” … “fast-paced” … “heart-pounding” … “movie for adults” were also scribbled in the dark.

PTA was born for the big screen — and he’s just getting better at it.  I’m not a fan of soap-opera-like storyline-jumping films like Magnolia (as good as it is!), and the subject matter and lead characters in most of his other post-Boogie films haven’t been anything that grabbed me despite loving the smart filmmaking with tremendous casts, performances & screenplays.

But this film’s about former ’60s radicals on the run from an out-of-control government — and that resonated with me as I imagine it’s going to with audiences.  It currently has an 8.5/10 audience rating on IMDb with over half the voters worldwide giving it either a 9 or a 10, plus 96% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.  And I imagine the Motion Picture Academy’s going to like it, too.  Expect nominations for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Editing, Original Score for Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead), Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, and maybe Cassandra Kulukundis in the inaugural Best Casting category (and maybe others).  And if there was a category for Best Location Shooting, he’d be in that, too.

In a film-watching rarity for me, my heart was actually racing for a lot of this — watching realistic fast-paced fast-cut chases (often in POV) involving flawed good-guys and even more flawed bad-guys.

PTA started writing elements of this story back in 2000 (!) but couldn’t put all the pieces together until a couple years ago, then finally began shooting it in early 2024.  What he envisioned and portrays is a racist U.S. government conducting militaristic raids on immigrants and targeting domestic law-abiding ‘enemies’ for personal reasons.  The orange pig & his squealers are gonna hate that this is popular.

PTA and Quentin Tarantino have been compared to each other since Boogie Nights, which led to them becoming close friends.  Q was unable to make Inglourious Basterds until he found the multi-lingual Christoph Waltz to play Col. Landa.  Similarly, PTA couldn’t make this movie until he found a teenage-looking mixed-race actress for the role of Willa who could carry scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio, which he finally did with the unknown Chase Infiniti (whatta name!), making her film debut.

Then there’s Jonny Greenwood’s often minimalistic but always driving score that’s as much a character as the actors, often with just percussion or piano or classical guitar so it’s never orchestral sweet but always cuts to the chase and the bone.  He & PTA have been collaborating on every film since There Will Be Blood (2007), and it’s composed as the film is being shot so the tone and tempo always matches the energy of the scene.

When I saw that it was 2 hrs & 41 minutes I thought, Oh no — Mr. Final Cut probably needed an objective set of eyes — but my gawd this thing flies by at lightning speed.  The editing is just masterful — and is one of the reasons I kept thinking this is cinematic storytelling at its very best.  There’s no exposition with character dialog — this is all told visually — and quickly.  I also jotted a note that I noticed my jaw had been hanging open for most of this movie!

If you haven’t heard, there’s a car chase scene over a sea of hills in the desert that’s going to put this on every list of great car chases in film history.  His buddy Tarantino made Death Proof to throw his hat in that ring, and now PTA’s joined him.

Oh — one of the passwords the revolutionaries use — “Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies and Hooterville” — I knew I knew from somewhere, and sure enough in the closing credits they play its source — Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

This is a fast-paced action film with humor.  It’s a father-daughter love story.  It’s topical commentary on today’s America.  And it’s a filmmaking masterpiece.

Do NOT wait to watch this on your TV at home.  See it in IMAX or the biggest screen in your town.  This is why the world makes movies and theaters are a place.  Do yourself a favor.

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Here’s a great recent interview with Paul Thomas Anderson . . .

And here’s a nice director & actor panel after a recent SAG screening . . .

Or here’s another one after a screening at the Regal Union Square . . .

Or here’s a fun couch interview with a bunch of the cast . . .

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Here’s a piece about PTA and QT I wrote a couple months ago . . .

Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino — Friends and Cinematic Soulmates

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Or here’s my main movie page with over 900 films broken down by genre and auteur . . .

Brian’s “Hot 300” movie list

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Or here’s another recent cinematic masterpiece broken down by scene including a lot of the key dialog and minor characters & songs identified and linked . . .

“A Complete Unknown” Scene Breakdown – Time Codes, Song Titles, Quotes & Context

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