The Last Duel (2021)

[Eric Prime]

CONFESS

[lilmac]

It was fantastic. Adam Driver carried the show. Loved Matt Damon as well. Another solid effort by the octogenarian, Ridley Scott. 

 

A

[Ethan Hunt]

We're gonna show the rape in graphic detail, and then we're going to show it again except more violent definitely feels an out of touch man's take on doing a Me Too movie

[FilmFincher]

This was really great. Certainly Ridley's best since The Martian and if you exclude that; Kingdom of Heaven. 

 

Loved the Rashomon style of storytelling. It's like a puzzle box with how scenes not present in each others versions fill in the gaps. Then you have the scenes that repeat and they found a nice subtly to the differences. I felt some differences were played for humour which added some required levity while others are much more malevolent. 

 

Comer and Driver are fantastic in this. Affleck is having a lot of fun and also provides some humour. Damon is pretty good in this, I think he's a little shaky towards the start but settles into it. 

 

I love how Ridley captures the violence and action. There's a frankness and indifference which emphasises the brutishness and rawness of everything. The clanging of metal in the final duel was music to my ears. I was on the edge of my seat through the whole finale. 

[filmlover]

This was really good stuff! As uneven as Ridley Scott's filmography might be overall, he certainly knows how to deliver when he's given the right material that balances craftmanship with character development, and here he's working with a good script by Nicole Holofcener plus Ben Affleck and Matt Damon with their first screenwriting collaboration since their Oscar-winning script for Good Will Hunting nearly 25 years ago. This is a carefully put together #MeToo tale set in medieval times in which the Rashomon approach fits the material. While he doesn't always nail the accent, Damon gives a good performance overall himself, while Adam Driver is typically strong in one of his most challenging roles to date. But what really holds the movie together is Jodie Comer, who has quickly established herself as the real deal. She perfectly captures Marguerite's vulnerability and ultimately resilience in a performance that would be deserving of an Oscar nomination. It doesn't quite approach greatness due to some missteps (Affleck is completely miscast in his part but luckily he's not in the movie enough to become a distraction), but this is certain to become classified as an overlooked gem in the years to come. B+

[CJohn]

18 hours ago, filmlover said:

Affleck is completely miscast in his part but luckily he's not in the movie enough to become a distraction

I shall not stand quiet while ridiculous nonsense like this is being said about Benny. His performance deserves 50 Oscars and 50 Razzies and whatever else there is to give him. It destroyed me in ways I can't explain. The accent, the hair, the blondness, asking about what shoe color was better between gold and silver, DEMANDING Driver to take off his pants. My face during all his screen time must have been incredible because I couldn't believe any of it.

Edited October 31, 2021 by CJohn

[4815162342]

2 hours ago, CJohn said:

I shall not stand quiet while ridiculous nonsense like this is being said about Benny. His performance deserves 50 Oscars and 50 Razzies and whatever else there is to give him. It destroyed me in ways I can't explain. The accent, the hair, the blondness, asking about what shoe color was better between gold and silver, DEMANDING Driver to take off his pants. My face during all his screen time must have been incredible because I couldn't believe any of it.

 

So what you are saying is filmlover is "no fucking fun"

[filmlover]

4 hours ago, CJohn said:

I shall not stand quiet while ridiculous nonsense like this is being said about Benny. His performance deserves 50 Oscars and 50 Razzies and whatever else there is to give him. It destroyed me in ways I can't explain. The accent, the hair, the blondness, asking about what shoe color was better between gold and silver, DEMANDING Driver to take off his pants. My face during all his screen time must have been incredible because I couldn't believe any of it.

He certainly deserves the award for The Most Bahston Individual To Have Ever Lived During the Middle Ages. 

 

One of the highlights of the whole movie is that his character is depicted as a smug bastard no matter whose perspective he's shown from. 

[Webslinger]

Director Ridley Scott returns to the historical drama subgenre in The Last Duel, and he does so with panache and a refreshingly dynamic approach to difficult material. Right off the bat, hearing that Scott will approach a historical drama in a Rashomon-like manner of perspective shifting sounds intriguing, and this film delivers effectively upon that premise. Though the triptych structure does feature some repetitive elements and has some moments whose changes under other perspectives are easy to see coming in advance, the narrative is scripted intelligently, and Scott’s direction keeps the proceedings moving at a quick clip throughout the lengthy running time. It’s hard to believe that this film marks the first screenwriting collaboration for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon since their Oscar-winning breakthrough with Good Will Hunting (perhaps the legend surrounding their work on that film is just so great that it feels like they’ve continued to be frequent collaborators even though that’s not actually the case), but their segments covering the combatants of the titular duel are interesting and involving, if also somewhat incomplete by design. Where the narrative really shines, though, is in Nicole Holofcenter’s contributions to the script once the perspective shifts to Marguerite de Carrouges, whose rape sets the stage for the duel; Holofcenter’s portion of the script has the best dialogue and most compelling characterizations, and it also benefits from being able to cast earlier events of the film in a different, more critical light. The climactic duel of the title is also a compelling affair that has quite a bit of tension for any viewers who enter the film unaware of the story the film is based on. As is customary of Ridley Scott’s films, the production values are solid across the board, and Scott’s direction once again lends a keen sense of immediacy to a centuries-old setting; he’s an old pro at this trick after his past successes in Gladiator and his preferred cut of Kingdom of Heaven, and those same strengths come to the fore here. The performances in front of the camera are also very strong. Jodie Comer emerges as the highlight of the cast as Marguerite de Carrouges, delivering a fierce and raw performance that commands viewers’ attention in each of the film’s narrative sections. Though the popular narrative surrounding her arrival in film in 2021 will center around her good comedic work in the hit Free Guy, her performance here is her true cinematic breakthrough. Matt Damon and Adam Driver are also reliable as ever as the men partaking in the duel. Damon alternates between the nobler and cooler readings of his character with equal precision, and Driver navigates being smug, flawed but well-intentioned, and dangerous so well that he feels convincing in each segment of the film. In a somewhat less some substantial but nevertheless memorable role, Ben Affleck also appears to be having a great time as the foppish, extremely problematic nobleman whose over-the-top debauchery sets the stage for much of the film’s middle portion. Though this film’s extreme misfortune at the box office leaves it at risk of being a forgotten entry in Ridley Scott’s filmography, The Last Duel is a very solidly compelling film that deserves a look from any viewers interested in a unique take on an oft-tread cinematic subgenre.

 

B+