"It's supposed to be a movie that Means Something. But Anderson, who won his first best director Oscar for 'One Battle,' has maintained in interviews that people should regard it less as a reflection of our times and more as a commentary on the eternal struggle of American democracy. 'There are articles in the L.A. Times from 100 years ago showing this kind of stuff,' he told my colleague Glenn Whipp in September."
"That's what makes 'One Battle' far less weighty than critics and supporters alike have characterized it as being. In his attempt to make a comedy of errors about an era of terror, Anderson missed the forest for the trees about resistance in Trump's America. His critiques and conclusions are as edgy as a soap bubble."
Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' won best picture at the 98th Academy Awards, earning six Oscars total including best director for Anderson. The film depicts California revolutionaries opposing a white supremacist federal government targeting undocumented immigrants and suppressing dissent. Despite critical praise from both progressive and conservative camps, the film underperformed at the box office, failing to recoup its $130 million budget. Anderson argues the film reflects eternal American democratic struggles rather than contemporary politics, citing historical parallels from a century ago. Critics contend that despite technical merits including cinematography, score, and Sean Penn's supporting performance, the film's social commentary lacks substantive depth and edge.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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