6. The Counselor
It’s a little risky putting The Counselor so high up on this list, since frustratingly little has come out about the film’s plot, but I have faith. The talent involved is unmistakable, particularly No Country for Old Men scribe Cormac McCarthy, who wrote the film’s screenplay.
Ridley Scott is directing, with a cast that boasts Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz. So far, The Counselor has been revealed to be about a lawyer (Fassbender) who becomes entangled in drug trafficking. The trailer doesn’t reveal much about the film’s plot, but it does tease with some tantalizing clues, including a beheaded motorist, cheetahs, and Cruz seductively asking Fassbender, “Have you been bad?”
I can see The Counselor sweeping if critics connect with it on the same level with which they did No Country for Old Men, another morality tale about the violent consequences of drug-related crime, set in a similar area to The Counselor. A Best Picture nomination is an almost certainty, as is Best Original Screenplay, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt scored nods for their roles as the film’s antagonists.
The Counselor hits theaters on October 25.
