This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” —Niccolò Machiavelli
Plot Overview
Negress Jungle Pussy (Teyana Taylor) spearheads the
revolution attacking a fortified detention center a little north of
the Mexican border, bussing the detainees away. She taunts a
sleeping guard, army Captain Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) who loves
black women and succumbs to her steamy charms. He keeps her under
personal surveillance afterwards, getting all hot and
bothered. She hooks up with an explosives expert Pat (Leonardo
DiCaprio) making bombs and making love. She finds herself
knocked up but her subversive activities continue unabated. Her
revolutionary group The French 75 gets busted from
robbing a bank, and Capt. Lockjaw
turns her. To avoid prison time, she rats out her friends and gets
put in the Witness Protection Program under a new “black
name” Perfidia Beverly Hills. She disappears from
Federal custody, however, leaving Pat under his new name Bob
to care for the baby Willa, née Charlene. Over the years Bob
loses his edge due to time, drugs and alcohol. Mention to his
daughter his fear of his past catching up with him, and 16-year-old
Willa (Chase Infiniti) thinks he's being paranoid.
Now a Colonel, Lockjaw seeks to join the exclusive Christmas
Adventurers Club who pursue racial purity by purging society of
“lunatics, haters and punk trans.” He
submits to a character evaluation but worrying about a skeleton in
his closet hires a Native American tracker named Wagon Burner
(“not homegrown”) to locate Willa for a DNA paternity test. The
results (“We have a problem”) lead to a delay as Burner
doesn't “do kids,” and a heavier hitter heads to the
Chupacabra Hills where she's being held while her de facto
“dad” Bob tries to make up for lost time and rescue her.
Ideology
We earlier saw a very nine-month pregnant Pussy target-practicing with a machine gun as one of her compadres remarks it's as if she doesn't know she's pregnant. It's an iconic picture that will stick in one's craw. Not a whole lot of maternal instinct there. Col. Lockjaw explains his role, “I have a higher calling,” to his newfound girl-child. “It's a higher honor,” he tells her, “than having you.” What we have is a drama dealing with mama bear ignoring family development on account of her calling. In an earlier age it was expressed in masculine terms:
Psalm 127 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Here's a picture of a man who works
as a carpenter during the day and as a watchman by night. He's
not getting adequate sleep and he's neglecting his family. God is
not requiring him to work two jobs like that, and he's forgotten to
invest in his children who can yield long term benefits.
The captain is asleep in the security office as the compound is
breached; he's tired himself out doing who-knows-what.
Whatever it was, it didn't set the club's investigating officers'
minds at ease when they did their evaluation (“Lockjaw
got his dick dirty.”) He didn't further his long range goals,
either, (“he needs to clean it”) through the
pickaninny he now disavows (“make it clean.”)
It was faithful father Bob who gained courage to “speak with
the enemies in the gate.” And Willa was the arrow spreading
Bob's revolutionary influence to a new generation.
Production Values
“” (2025) was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It was inspired by Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel, Vineland whose story took place in the 1970s. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro. Every major cast member gave a top-notch, career-best performance, but it's Sean Penn's Lockjaw who will stick with you. The supporting actors were excellent, also.
MPA rated it R for pervasive language, violence,
sexual content, and drug use. There was a “reverse
rape” depicted but he was asking for it. On a technical
level, the film is faultless. Michael Bauman's VistaVision
cinematography provides a complete cinematic experience
while Jonny Greenwood's score ups the anxiety level a good
notch. The radioed QST alert is an unassigned Q–code
from the telegraphers' lexicon and the equipment a
holdover from the CB
craze when the source book was written about. Our movie theater had
designated box seats wired to agitate when the car chase roller
coasters through the Chupacabra Hills. I suppose if you have any
change left after paying the premium, this will shake it loose.
Runtime stretches to ≈ 2¾ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
Some nuns provided sanctuary, albeit reluctantly. The mother superior was black but the sisters mostly White. No big deal, God's children come in every hue.
The theater where I saw this matinee was more crowded than usual, but as the show progressed people kept leaving in groups until I was about the only one left. It must have been well marketed but not what people were expecting. There were many blasé violations of political correctness. Be prepared for intense action.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action-packed. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Four and a half stars out of five.
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