Jennifer Lawrence names the best movie she’s ever seen: “I mean, oh my god”
There’s something rare and exciting about discovering a new film that instantly feels like a classic. That’s exactly what happened to Jennifer Lawrence earlier this year when she watched a movie that completely floored her – one she now calls the greatest she’s ever seen.
Now, that sounds like a bold statement to make, but Lawrence isn’t alone in her appreciation. The actor, who has recently starred in the psychological drama Die My Love to acclaim, has somehow managed to find time between promoting the movie (and filming the highly anticipated The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping) to hit the cinema, where she fell in love with One Battle After Another.
It’s easily one of the greatest films of the year, an epic mixture of action, comedy and thriller from Paul Thomas Anderson at his most political. A tale of corruption, generational conflict, and revolutionary action, the movie is led by a powerhouse performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, while the likes of Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor and Benicio del Toro round out the impressive cast.
Described by Far Out in a four-and-a-half-star review as “a Hollywood romp that has been through the rigours of arthouse attention to detail,” One Battle After Another certainly is the right kind of blockbuster – one that could only be made by someone as masterful as Anderson. I mean, if the same person who made Phantom Thread chooses to create an epic action blockbuster, you can be safe in the knowledge that you’re not getting yourself in for something like Fast and Furious.
Lawrence, taking things one step further, thinks that the film is a masterpiece, telling Bafta, “This is the best movie I’ve ever seen. This is One Battle After Another. “I can’t remember a time where I ever had an experience like that in the cinema, and it was shared. When it was over, everyone applauded.”
She added, “I just kept thanking my husband over and over and over again because he had booked the tickets, like two weeks in advance, and I just couldn’t say anything else other than just like, thank you for that experience.”
Watching something in the cinema can sometimes be frustrating, with a good movie easily ruined by the sound of rustling wrappers and the distracting light of people scrolling through their phones. Yet, a really good cinema experience can be totally transformative, becoming a moment of community and shared appreciation for the arts that you’ll never forget.
Lawrence was lucky that her experience of One Battle After Another fell into the latter category. She continued, “You have to see it in theatres. I think it’s an impossible pace to uphold. There’s not an extra minute in it, at no point does it drag. And P T Anderson has so many characters inside of him, and they’re all so visceral, so real that you’re, it’s so alive and you’re in it. Every character, you are, you know them and you see them. I mean, the performances are unbelievable. Sean Penn, I mean, Leo, obviously, but I mean, oh my God.”
So, if you’ve not managed to see One Battle After Another yet, I can’t think of a more convincing endorsement.
