MOVIE REVIEW! - "One Battle After Another"

Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills are members of a revolutionary group known as the French 75. Hot on their tail is Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), a military officer who becomes infatuated with Perfidia and wants to track down the members of the French 75.

Pat and Perfidia eventually have a child named Willa, but Perfidia can’t stay away from the revolution and abandons her family. She is eventually caught and she betrays the French 75. The members who manage to get away, including Pat with his baby daughter, go into hiding.

Sixteen years later, Lockjaw is being courted by a crazy white supremacist society known as the Christmas Adventurers Club. Due to his past relationship with Perfidia, Lockjaw decides to track down Pat, who goes by Bob now, and Willa who now goes by Charlene (Chase Infiniti) and begins raids in a sanctuary city where Bob and Charlene now live.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob, a man searching for his daughter in "One Battle After Another".

Eventually, both Charlene and Bob separately become aware of their situation and a depressed and very high Bob begins to search for his daughter. This leads to a crazy cat-and-chase movie that is easily one of the best films I’ve seen this year.

Now, to be fair, this movie is two hours and forty two minutes long and roughly the first hour takes its time to set up the world. But once Bob is on the run and looking for his daughter, the movie doesn’t let up. Also, if you think I spoiled anything at the top of this review, trust me when I say that I left plenty of surprises in store for you.

The first thing to comment on is director Paul Thomas Anderson’s solid writing of an epic screwball action adventure. Anderson, along with his cinematographer Michael Bauman and a crack stunt team, create some truly amazing action sequences and intense moments.

There are car chase sequences that truly stack up to the best car chases seen in other classic films such as “Bullitt”, “The French Connection”, and “Ronin”. And the best part is that they are done practically with little to no CGI which is refreshing these days.

Benicio del Toro plays Sergio, a man who helps Bob in "One Battle After Another".

Thankfully, it’s also infused with plenty of humor, particularly from a frantic and off the chain DiCaprio. These days, DiCaprio is very choosy about the roles that he takes. After all, he has a filmography and a net worth where he doesn’t have to pick just anything to keep on working.

Thankfully, he chose this movie and he gives what I think is one of his best performances as Bob. This is a man who simply wants to raise his daughter but the ghosts of his past are never far from his thoughts as he drinks and smokes weed to try to drown them out.

The rest of the cast is solid here as well, including Infiniti as Charlene, Bob’s daughter who is not completely unaware of her dad’s past. Despite hearing his claims, though, she acts like maybe she didn’t quite believe him until she meets someone who confirms Bob’s claims.

Also in need of praise is Sean Penn as Lockjaw, a truly vile antagonist and someone you truly hope doesn’t capture his prey. Penn gives Lockjaw a unique walk and an almost robotic military personality with weird and perverted thoughts. While he has an unhealthy infatuation with Perdilia, a black woman, he is also a confirmed racist and a genuine asshole.

Finally, there is Benicio del Toro as Sergio St. Carlos, a karate instructor to Charlene and the head of an undocumented community that he helps in Baktan Cross. He’s not in the movie as much as the other characters but definitely plays a pivotal role. Once again, del Toro gives a perfect performance and creates a memorable character that you can’t help but like!

While it may take a moment to truly get going, a great cast and some of the best action in recent memory makes “One Battle After Another” one of the best films of 2025 and a winner for Anderson and his fans.