Ridley Scott’s forgotten 11-year-old thriller contains the wildest scene of the director’s career

The counselor is widely regarded as one of Ridley Scott’s worst movies, but among the mediocrity, one scene stands out as perhaps the most shocking of his entire career. Based on a script by acclaimed author Cormac McCarthy and featuring an impressive ensemble of acting talentThe failure of the movie is not immediately obvious. However, while critical responses are generally scathing, no one can deny that one scene in the largely forgotten thriller remains extremely strange 11 years later.

A dense and philosophical crime thriller, The counselor is as messy as it is violent. The film stars Michael Fassbender as a lawyer who gets involved in a drug deal gone wrong, with dire consequences for him and everyone around him. Along with Fassbender as the eponymous “Counselor“, the movie also features Penelope Cruz as his love interest, Javier Bardem as unscrupulous businessman Rainer, and Cameron Diaz as his treacherous girlfriend, Malkina. One scene with Malkhina and Rainer became deservedly infamous.

The counselor includes Cameron Diaz having sex with a car

The moment is shocking in the context of Scott’s career

In one of the most jarring moments of Ridley Scott’s movie career, The counselor Features a scene where Cameron Diaz gets intimate with Javier Bardem’s car. The scene is told through flashback, with Bardem’s character relaying the incident to the counselor. Jumping between the two time periods, Reiner reveals in minute detail how Mlkina drives the vehicle to a secluded spot on a golf course, takes off her underwear, gets on top of the windshield, and rubs against the glass as he watches in wonder. .

Considering that the moment comes in the context of what is ostensibly a crime thriller, coupled with the utter strangeness of the act itself, the scene is a shocking interlude in what is an otherwise forgettable movie. As one of the most striking visual directors of all timeCapable of bringing astonishingly vivid landscapes to life in movies like Blade RunnerScott is able to create memorable cinematic moments. But, for sheer savagery, The counselorThe car scene is probably one of the most unique scenes in any Ridley Scott movie.

The strange scene of the counselor Cameron Diaz cannot save the movie

There were too many problems to overcome

How amazing how The counselorCameron Diaz’s scene is, the rest of the film is sadly much less impressive. The movie received widely negative reviews from criticsWith the most important thing with its heavy pacing, portentous dialogue and pretentious tone. Like these Rotten tomatoes Critical Consensus states, “The Counselor raises expectations with its talented cast and creative crew – and subverts them with a gritty and clumsy suspense thriller that’s mercifully short on suspense or thrills.” In this context, one arresting scene will never be enough.

Although some critics responded well to the movie, the general consensus was negative. Per Rotten tomatoesOnly 34% of reviews are positive. While the movie was a modest financial success (generating $71 million at the box office against a $25 million budget), The counselor is widely regarded as less than the sum of its parts. Given the scale of its problems, it would always have taken more than one vehicular intercourse scene to save it.

Key background

• Michael Fassbender signed on to star in the film as part of a two-picture deal, with the second being the studio-funded Assassin’s Creed (2016), rather than a sequel.

• This is one of director Guillermo del Toro’s favorite films.

• No one in the film goes by a complete first and last name.

Source: Rotten tomatoes