Phil sees THE REVENANT from 20th Century Fox - April 28, 2016

OK, so the film I will be reviewing today finally gave its lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio his long overdue Academy Award for Best Actor. Yup, it's a good movie. Yup, it's beautifully directed. Yup, it's got great acting in it. Yup, it's a hella depressing movie. So now we got that out of the way, let's talk about the film THE REVENANT.

Theatrical Movie Poster

The film's official synopsis: Inspired by true events, THE REVENANT is an immerse and visceral cinematic experience capturing one man’s epic adventure of survival and the extraordinary power of the human spirit. In an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption.

Let's start at the beginning. One, this is a brutal film to watch. Literally, it's a hard movie to watch. While it contains beautiful cinematography and it captures nature in all its glory, it also shows that nature is a cold hearted bitch and it makes you get inside your dead horse naked so you won't freeze your cajoles off! Second, Tom Hardy's character is a total douchebag and you can hardly understand what the hell he's talking about. Basically he talks and sounds like Boomhauer from the King of the Hill. But he's a man on a mission and that mission is getting paid for selling pelts by any means necessary. Especially if it means leaving poor Leonardi DeCaprio buried alive in a shallow grave after killing his son. Like I said, he's a total douchebag and Brady brings that to his character perfectly.

Acting means pretending to be something your not. It's like playing make believe pretty much. Like when we were kids and we used to pretend we were a cowboy or a superhero or something like that. However, DeCaprio wasn't really acting. He's actually freezing ass cold. He's eating raw liver from a buffalo and puking. He's really naked inside of a dead horse's carcass. That's not acting. That's suffering for your art which begs the question of just how far will you go and do to win an Oscar? Well, DeCaprio went all out in this film so I guess he deserved that Oscar, but he should have won one for some of the other films he was in like THE DEPARTED or THE WOLF OF WALL STREET. But like the old saying goes, better late than ever.

The film is directed and co-written by Academy Award winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu, whose previous films include BABEL and 2014's critically acclaimed BIRDMAN. The man is unquestionably a talented and gifted filmmaker so no argument there. There's a rhythm to his films, almost like poetry set to a Frank Zapa album. Really unique, different and has a very personal voice in his work. His set-ups and framing is superb, pacing is good and uses a lot of long takes to emphasize the characters and their situations so we the audience are immersed in their lives and we experience their trials and tribulations along with them. He also uses several images as metaphors about life and death, man and nature as well as war and love.  

Overall THE REVENANT is one hell of a movie that grips you from the get go and doesn't let until up until the very end. The movie truly is a work of art and will go on as one of Alejandro G. Iñárritu's best films and the role that finally DeCaprio his Oscar. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars!! Highly recommended!!

THE REVENANT is still playing in select theaters nationwide. The movie is also available on Blu-Ray, DVD as well as on Video On Demand, Netflix and at your local Redbox and retailer.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!