Leonardo DiCaprio is among the most revered actors working as we speak. From his huge breakthrough function in James Cameron’s epic blockbuster “Titanic” to his eventual (and long-awaited) Oscar win for his work in the revenge thriller “The Revenant,” he is been working on the highest performing stage for 3 a long time. That continues even now in 2025 as he is starring in Paul Thomas Anderson’s big-budget political epic “One Battle After One other.” And whereas it hasn’t hit theaters but, it is already acquired excessive reward from one of many biggest administrators of all time.
Nobody lower than Steven Spielberg himself held a Q&A with Anderson not too long ago on the DGA theater in Los Angeles following a screening of “One Battle After Another,” which sees DiCaprio playing a former revolutionary named Bob. As reported by The Film Stage, Spielberg had some very sort phrases for the movie, calling it issues like “insane,” “related,” and in any other case “unbelievable.” This is what he needed to say about it:
“What an insane film, oh my God. There’s extra motion within the first hour of this than each different movie you have ever directed put collectively. The whole lot, it’s actually unbelievable. That is such a concoction of issues which are so weird and on the identical time so related, that I believe have change into more and more extra related than maybe even whenever you completed the screenplay and assembled your solid and crew and commenced manufacturing.”
Loosely based mostly on the novel “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon, the film finds the now washed-up Bob present in a state of stoned paranoia and residing off the grid along with his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). Nonetheless, when his nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces after 16 years and Willa goes lacking, Bob is left with little alternative however to scramble and attempt to discover her. Talking on the Q&A, Anderson described what it was like working with DiCaprio on the movie, explaining how he would deliver concepts to the desk:
“Leo has an excellent factor. He’ll promote you on one thing by saying, ‘This can be a horrible concept, and also you’re gonna hate it.’ After which he proceeds to inform you a extremely improbable concept. However he likes to set it up by saying, ‘I believe it is a horrible concept.'”
Spielberg in contrast One Battle After One other to a Stanley Kubrick basic
Spielberg and Anderson each have expertise working with DiCaprio now, with Spielberg having directed him in “Catch Me If You Can,” a film based on the life of conman Frank Abagnale Jr. On condition that Spielberg is among the most completed administrators within the historical past of cinema, it is no small factor for him to heap reward on “One Battle After One other” like this. To that finish, Spielberg went on to match Anderson’s newest film to a stone-cold basic from one other legendary director:
“I’ve not seen a film that’s so tonally a relative to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr. Strangelove.’ This brings a sort of absurdist comedy, taken very significantly, as a result of it is a lot a mirrored image of what is occurring as we speak, each day, all through this nation. However it takes it to some extent the place you need to snicker, as a result of should you do not snicker, you are going to begin screaming, ‘That is too actual.’ And so you bought that outlet.”
“I nervously snicker all over ‘Dr. Strangelove,’ and, greater than nervously, I had a good time laughing all over this. However it’s attention-grabbing the place you snicker right here, the place you enable us to snicker, after which whenever you shut it down,” Spielberg added.
“Dr. Strangelove” is widely considered to be one of Kubrick’s best movies, with Kubrick himself being thought-about among the best administrators of his period, if not all of movie historical past. So once more, having Spielberg evaluate your work to one thing like that’s spectacular. It definitely means an entire lot extra than simply having some rando on social media say your film is sweet.
For Warner Bros., such reward may be very a lot welcome. “One Battle After One other” value a whopping $130 million or extra to make, so the studio wants this to carry out on the field workplace. Fortunately, the studio has been on a record-breaking hot streak at the box office as of late, so there’s purpose to imagine this fiery, political epic can discover the viewers it wants. Having Spielberg’s glowing endorsement will solely assist its trigger.
“One Battle After One other” hits theaters on September 26, 2025.
