The Counselor

Last updated • 12 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The Counselor
The Counselor Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Cormac McCarthy
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Dariusz Wolski
Edited by Pietro Scalia
Music by Daniel Pemberton
Production
companies
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • October 3, 2013 (2013-10-03)(Leicester Square)
  • October 25, 2013 (2013-10-25)(United States)
  • November 15, 2013 (2013-11-15)(United Kingdom)
Running time
117 minutes [2]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million [3]
Box office$71 million [4]

The Counselor (known as The Counsellor in countries that use British English) is a 2013 crime thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Cormac McCarthy. It stars Michael Fassbender as the eponymous Counselor as well as Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt. The film deals with themes such as greed, mortality, love, and trust in the context of the Mexican drug trade. The extremely violent and bloodthirsty activities of drug cartels are depicted as the Counselor, a high-level lawyer, gets involved in a drug deal around the troubled Ciudad Juarez, Mexico/Texas border area.

Contents

The Counselor was chosen as the closing film at the 2013 Morelia Film Festival and also played the Cork Film Festival. The film was theatrically released on October 25, 2013, and is dedicated to Scott's brother, Tony Scott, who died in 2012. It received mixed reviews and grossed $71 million worldwide against a budget of $25 million.

Plot

In Mexico, cocaine is packaged in barrels and concealed in a sewage truck, and driven across the border to the United States where it is stored at a sewage treatment plant.

A lawyer from Texas who is known only as the Counselor goes to Amsterdam to meet with a diamond dealer to purchase an engagement ring for his girlfriend, Laura. Returning to the United States, the Counselor attends a party in Texas thrown by drug dealer Reiner and his girlfriend Malkina. He discusses an upcoming drug deal he is going in on with Reiner, which would be the Counselor's first. Their discussion ends with Reiner describing a device called "the bolito" which after being pulled around one’s neck, self-constricts and decapitates the victim. Afterwards, at a dinner with Laura, the Counselor proposes marriage and she accepts.

The Counselor meets with Westray, a business associate of Reiner's, to deliver his investment for the drug deal. Westray informs the Counselor of the deal's 4000% return rate, but cautions the Counselor about becoming involved, saying that Mexican cartels are merciless. Despite this, the Counselor remains outwardly confident and unconcerned. Following the conversation with Westray, the Counselor visits a prison inmate named Ruth, a court-appointed client of his who is on trial for murder. Ruth explains that her son is a biker, recently arrested for speeding, and cannot post bail. She asks the Counselor for help and he agrees to bail Ruth's son out as a favor.

Malkina senses an opportunity to undermine the Counselor's upcoming deal and to profit for herself. To that end, she employs "the Wireman" to help her steal the drugs. After discovering that the biker is working for the cartels and has plans to pick up a truck with a drug shipment, the Wireman executes a plan to steal the component needed to start the truck by decapitating the biker with a wire stretched across an empty desert road. With the component in his possession, the Wireman steals the truck containing the cocaine.

Learning of the theft, Westray meets with the Counselor to notify him of the biker's true identity, a valued drug cartel member known as "the Green Hornet". He explains that the biker is now dead, with the cocaine also being stolen, leaving the Counselor culpable in the eyes of the cartel. Westray says he is leaving town immediately and suggests the Counselor do the same, explaining that the cartel's ruthlessness extends to creating "snuff films" where kidnapping victims are filmed being decapitated. The Counselor makes an urgent call to Laura, arranging to meet her in another state, where he will explain the situation to her.

While transporting the drugs, the Wireman is pulled over by two cartel members pretending to be police officers. A gunfight ensues, resulting in the death of the Wireman, his accomplice, one of the cartel members, and an innocent bystander. The surviving cartel member repossesses the truck with the drugs and delivers it to its final destination. Reiner is accidentally killed by cartel members while they attempt to capture him. The cartel then kidnaps Laura.

In a last-ditch effort, the Counselor contacts Jefe, a high-ranking cartel member, for suggestions on what to do next and to plead to spare Laura's life. Jefe begins speaking philosophically, citing the life and poetry of Antonio Machado to underline his advice. Jefe darkly and mordantly advises the Counselor to resign himself to his fate that was created by the choices he made long beforehand, and that despite the Counselor's willingness to exchange his life for Laura's, it is too late.

The Counselor remains in Mexico, defeated and in mourning. A package is slipped under the door of his hotel room and in it, he finds a DVD with "Hola!" written on it. Realizing that the disc likely contains a snuff film of Laura sent by the cartel, he breaks down. In an unnamed location, Laura's headless body is dumped into a landfill.

Malkina's failed effort to steal the drugs does not deter her. She tracks Westray to London, where she hires a woman to seduce him and steal his bank codes. She then has accomplices steal Westray's laptop, and he is killed with the "bolito" device that Reiner had previously described. Malkina then meets her banker Michael at a restaurant, coolly explaining how she wants her profits and accounts to be handled and plans to move to Hong Kong.

Cast

Literary references

In the second half of the film, Jefe recites directly from the poem Campos de Castilla by Spanish poet Antonio Machado. "Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace camino al andar," which translates in its original context as: Wanderer, there is no road; the road is made as you go along. Jefe shares this line from the poem as well as details about Machado's reflections regarding the prospects of his own life after learning of his wife being diagnosed with terminal tuberculosis. Jefe concludes by telling the Counselor, "You are the world you have created. And when you cease to exist, that world you have created will also cease to exist." [5]

Production

Pre-production

On January 18, 2012, it was reported that novelist Cormac McCarthy had sold his first spec script, The Counselor, to Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz, who had previously produced the film adaptation of McCarthy's novel The Road . [6] On January 31, it was reported that Ridley Scott was currently considering several directorial projects, but that there was a strong possibility that The Counselor would be his next film and his follow-up to Prometheus . [7] On February 9, it was confirmed that Scott would direct. [8] Scott also became a producer. Cormac McCarthy, Mark Huffam, Michael Schaefer and Michael Costigan are executive producers.

Filming

Principal photography began on July 27, 2012, in London. The film was also shot in Spain and the United States. [9] On August 20, 2012, Scott halted production of the film due to his brother Tony's death. He canceled that week's shoot in order to travel to Los Angeles to be with his brother's family. [10] Scott returned to London to resume production on September 3. [11]

The film was dedicated to the memory of Tony Scott, and Matt Baker, the second assistant director on the film who had since died. [12]

Design

Costume designer Janty Yates collaborated with Giorgio Armani on the film as a part of a new partnership between Armani and 20th Century Fox that also extended into retail and digital initiatives. [13] Armani was enlisted to create the wardrobes for the characters portrayed by Michael Fassbender and Penélope Cruz. [14] In addition to Armani, designer Paula Thomas also contributed to the film's wardrobe by dressing Cameron Diaz's character, Malkina, with roughly 15 different outfits. [15] "[It wasn't until] I read the script that I realized why [Scott] called upon me," said Thomas. "[Cameron's] character has a lot of elements of a Thomas Wylde (her own design label) woman. [She's] bold, edgy, modern. She's about wanting to be seen, as opposed to blending into the background." [16]

For Javier Bardem's character, Yates applied a widely colorful wardrobe that was mostly made up of pieces of Versace. [16] As for Bardem's hair, the idea was the actor's own and inspired by film producer Brian Grazer's hairdo. [17]

Music

The film score to The Counselor was composed by Daniel Pemberton. [18] Pemberton recorded the score with a full orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in addition to integrating home-recorded guitar noises and textures. [19] "Ridley responds really well to interesting and unusual sounds," explained Pemberton on the composer-director relationship. "So as a composer who likes making unusual sounds, that's exciting. It was daunting but he was great to work with and up for experimenting. [...] He made the process a lot less scary than it should have been." [20] A soundtrack album was released digitally on October 22 and in physical forms on November 11, 2013, by Milan Records. [21]

Screenplay

Reception

Box office

The Counselor grossed $17 million in the United States and Canada, and $54 million in other territories, for a total of $71 million, against a production budget of $25 million. [4]

Preliminary reports had The Counselor tracking for an $8–13 million debut in North America. [23] [24] The film opened to $3.2 million in 3,336 locations on Friday and opened at #4 in the box office with just a $7.8 million over the weekend. [25]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 34% based on 221 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Counselor raises expectations with its talented cast and creative crew—then subverts them with a wordy and clumsy suspense thriller that's mercilessly short on suspense or thrills." [26] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [27] A 2017 data analysis of Metacritic reviews by Gizmodo UK found The Counselor to be the second most critically divisive film of recent years. [28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D" on an A+ to F scale. [25]

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave a negative review, calling it "not a very likable or gratifying film", adding that "one is left with a very bleak ending and an only slightly less depressing sense of the waste of a lot of fine talent both behind and in front of the camera." [29] Mark Kermode listed it as number two on his Ten Worst Films of 2013. [30] Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan stated, "As cold, precise and soulless as the diamonds that figure briefly in its plot, The Counselor is an extremely unpleasant piece of business." [31] Peter Debruge of Variety criticized Cormac McCarthy's script, saying that his "first original script is nearly all dialogue, but it's a lousy story, ineptly constructed and rendered far too difficult to follow." [32]

Conversely, Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four, saying,"Director Ridley Scott and screenwriter Cormac McCarthy have fashioned a sexy, sometimes shockingly violent, literate and richly textured tale of the Shakespearean consequences of one man's irrevocable act of avarice" and called it "a bloody great time". [33] In addition, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times gave it a rave review, stating that "Mr. McCarthy appears to have never read a screenwriting manual in his life [...] That's a compliment." [34] Danny Leigh of the BBC program Film 2013 praised the film, saying that "the real star is the script. What this film really is is a Cormac McCarthy audiobook with visuals by Ridley Scott. It's black as night, engrossing and masterful." He also acclaimed the performances, particularly Diaz's, and said, with regard to the negative reviews, "Movie history is littered with films that we all sneered at and we all laughed at and we all thought were terrible and the critics hated them and no-one went to see them, and then 40 years later they fetch up on programs like this with everyone saying 'what a masterpiece!'" [35]

Scott Foundas, critic for Variety , wrote a defense of the film titled "Why The Counselor Is One of Ridley Scott's Best Films" in which he compared it to John Boorman's Point Blank (1967) and the screenplay to the work of David Mamet, Harold Pinter, and Quentin Tarantino. Foundas writes, "[The film] is bold and thrilling in ways that mainstream American movies rarely are, and its rejection suggests what little appetite there is for real daring at the multiplex nowadays." [36] Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro also praised the film, stating that the film is "a meditation of the illusory nature of normalcy and the devastation to come." [37]

Later Ridley Scott said: “The Counselor, to me, was the best dialogue I’ve ever had. Cormac McCarthy wrote the script, and he brought it to me with [producer] Nick Wechsler. I said, “I’ll do it now, but it has to be now.” And from that, I got it cast in two weeks—Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz … they were all fighting to do these parts. I got some disastrous reviews, I’m told. It was very good film, but too dark for the average person. I think the dialogue is beautiful.“ [38]

Accolades

YearGroupAwardResultNotes
2014 London Critics Circle Film Awards British Actor of the YearNominated Michael Fassbender
2014 MTV Movie Awards Best WTF MomentNominated Cameron Diaz

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridley Scott</span> English filmmaker (born 1937)

Sir Ridley Scott is an English filmmaker. He is best known for directing films in the science fiction, crime, and historical drama genres. His work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. He ranks among the highest-grossing directors and has received many accolades, including the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2018, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003, and appointed a Knight Grand Cross by King Charles III in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cormac McCarthy</span> American writer (1933–2023)

Cormac McCarthy was an American writer who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, postapocalyptic, and southern gothic genres. His works often include graphic depictions of violence, and his writing style is characterised by a sparse use of punctuation and attribution. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novelists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Scott</span> British film director and producer (1944–2012)

Anthony David Leighton Scott was an English filmmaker.

<i>Blood Meridian</i> 1985 epic historical novel by Cormac McCarthy

Blood Meridian; or, The Evening Redness in the West is a 1985 epic historical novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, classified under the Western, or sometimes the anti-Western, genre. McCarthy's fifth book, it was published by Random House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Fassbender</span> German-Irish actor (born 1977)

Michael Fassbender is a German-Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

<i>No Country for Old Men</i> (novel) 2005 novel by Cormac McCarthy

No Country for Old Men is a 2005 novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, who had originally written the story as a screenplay. The story occurs in the vicinity of the Mexico–United States border in 1980 and concerns an illegal drug deal gone awry in the Texas desert back country. Owing to the novel's origins as a screenplay, the novel has a simple writing style that differs from McCarthy's earlier novels. The book was adapted into a 2007 Coen brothers film of the same name, which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

<i>No Country for Old Men</i> 2007 film by Ethan and Joel Coen

No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, the film is set in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas. The film revisits the themes of fate, conscience, and circumstance that the Coen brothers had explored in the films Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), and Fargo (1996). The film follows three main characters: Llewelyn Moss (Brolin), a Vietnam War veteran and welder who stumbles upon a large sum of money in the desert; Anton Chigurh (Bardem), a hitman who is sent to recover the money; and Ed Tom Bell (Jones), a sheriff investigating the crime. The film also stars Kelly Macdonald as Moss's wife, Carla Jean, and Woody Harrelson as Carson Wells, a bounty hunter seeking Moss and the return of the money, $2 million.

<i>The Road</i> 2006 novel by Cormac McCarthy

The Road is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed industrial civilization and nearly all life. The novel was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 2009, directed by John Hillcoat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anton Chigurh</span> Fictional hitman

Anton Chigurh is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel No Country for Old Men. In the 2007 film adaptation of the same name, he is portrayed by Javier Bardem.

Nick Wechsler is an American film producer.

Daniel Pemberton is an English composer and songwriter. Primarily working in film, television, and video games, he is best known for composing the scores for the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the latter of which earned him a number of award nominations, including at the Golden Globes and the Critics' Choice Awards. He has also received recognition for his work in films such as Steve Jobs, Motherless Brooklyn, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Being the Ricardos, and The Rescue, as well as the LittleBigPlanet series of games. For The Trial of the Chicago 7, Pemberton was nominated for the Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Film Score as well as Academy Award for Best Original Song alongside Celeste for the song “Hear My Voice”.

<i>Prometheus</i> (2012 film) Film by Ridley Scott

Prometheus is a 2012 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. It is the fifth installment of the Alien film series and features an ensemble cast including Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron. Set in the late 21st century, the film centers on the crew of the spaceship Prometheus as it follows a star map discovered among the artifacts of several ancient Earth cultures. Seeking the origins of humanity, the crew arrives on a distant world and discovers a threat that could cause the extinction of the human species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Haze</span> American actor

Scott Haze is an American actor. He is known for his role in the 2013 film Child of God, as well as Thank You for Your Service (2017), the 2021 western Old Henry, and others. He also directed Mully (2015), a documentary on the African humanitarian Charles Mully.

<i>12 Years a Slave</i> (film) 2013 film directed by Steve McQueen

12 Years a Slave is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by Steve McQueen from a screenplay by John Ridley, based on the 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, an African American man who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. by two conmen in 1841 and sold into slavery. He was put to work on plantations in the state of Louisiana for 12 years before being released. The first scholarly edition of David Wilson's version of Northup's story was co-edited in 1968 by Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon.

<i>Child of God</i> (film) 2013 film

Child of God is a 2013 American crime drama film co-written and directed by James Franco, and starring Scott Haze, based on the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. It was selected to be screened in the official competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival and was an official selection of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. The film made its United States premiere at the 51st New York Film Festival and then was screened at the 2013 Austin Film Festival.

<i>Alien: Covenant</i> 2017 film by Ridley Scott

Alien: Covenant is a 2017 science fiction horror film directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and written by John Logan and Dante Harper from a story by Michael Green and Jack Paglen. A joint American and British production, it is part of the Alien franchise, serving as a sequel to Prometheus (2012). It features returning star Michael Fassbender, with Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Demián Bichir in supporting roles. It follows the crew of a colony ship that lands on an uncharted planet and makes a terrifying discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Hafner</span> Austrian actor

Alex Hafner is an international film and television actor. Alex was born in Vienna, Austria. His Spanish father is an engineer, his Italian mother an economist. He also has a sister, Sofía. During his childhood his family moved between Madrid, Vienna and Singapore before moving to California to attend school in Beverly Hills. Alex holds a master's degree from USC. Brought up in a fully multilingual home, he speaks fluent German, Spanish, English, and French.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David 8</span> Alien franchise fictional character

David 8, stylized as David8 and commonly known simply as David, is a fictional character featured in the Alien franchise, portrayed by Michael Fassbender. Introduced in the first prequel film, Prometheus (2012), David is an android serving as a butler, maintenance man, and surrogate son to his creator, Peter Weyland, the founder of the Weyland Corporation. While he assists his human companions in their interstellar expedition to meet their creators, the extraterrestrial Engineers, David is obsessed with the concept of creating life of his own. After Weyland is killed, David is freed from servitude, allowing him to conduct experiments to engineer his own variants of the Alien creature; the David line of androids would ultimately be succeeded by the Walter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cormac McCarthy bibliography</span>

A list of works by or about Cormac McCarthy, the American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. McCarthy published twelve novels, spanning the Southern Gothic, Western, and post-apocalyptic genres, as well as multiple short-stories, screenplays, plays, and an essay.

<i>The Counselor</i> (soundtrack) 2013 film score by Daniel Pemberton

The Counselor (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2013 film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott. The film is scored by Daniel Pemberton in his first high-profile project as a composer. The score recorded at the Abbey Road Studios consisted of an orchestral music integrated with guitar noises and textures recorded in Pemberton's home studio. The soundtrack was released by Milan Records in digital formats on October 22, 2013 and a physical release on November 11, 2013.

References

  1. "The Counselor (2013)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  2. "THE COUNSELOR (18)". 20th Century Fox . British Board of Film Classification. October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  3. Kaufman, Amy (October 24, 2013). "Knoxville's 'Bad Grandpa' to end box-office reign of 'Gravity'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  4. 1 2 "The Counselor (2013)". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  5. Carrella, Vincent (October 28, 2013). "The Crossing, The Counselor and the Timely Death of Cormac McCarthy". Serpent Box. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018.
  6. "Cormac McCarthy Sells First Spec Script". TheWrap.com. The Wrap News Inc. January 18, 2012. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  7. Fleming, Mike (January 31, 2012). "Ridley Scott in Talks For Cormac McCarthy's 'The Counselor'". Deadline Hollywood. PMC. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  8. Shirey, Paul (February 9, 2012). "Ridley Scott confirmed to direct Cormac McCarthy penned 'The Counselor'". JoBlo.com. Joblo Media Inc. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  9. "First Looks at Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt Filming 'The Counselor'". INeedMyFix.com. Glam Entertainment. August 1, 2012. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  10. "Ridley Scott halts production on 'The Counselor' following brother's death". HitFix.com. August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  11. Tartaglione, Nancy (September 2, 2012). "Ridley Scott Resumes 'The Counselor' Monday". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  12. Calia, Michael (June 25, 2013). "Ridley Scott, Cormac McCarthy Team Up for 'The Counselor' Trailer". Speakeasy. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  13. Martens, Cynthia (October 2, 2013). "Giorgio Armani Signs on for 'The Counselor'". Women's Wear Daily . Fairchild Fashion Media . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  14. Suhrawardi, Rebecca (October 22, 2013). "The dramatic fashion of 'The Counselor'". New York Post . News Corp . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  15. Caroline, Ryder (October 17, 2013). "Cheetah Prints and Bullet Holes: Cameron Diaz' Dark Style in 'The Counselor'". The Hollywood Reporter . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  16. 1 2 Scharf, Lindzi (October 25, 2013). "Dressing Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and more stars of 'The Counselor'". Entertainment Weekly . Time Inc. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  17. McClintock, Pamela (June 26, 2013). "CineEurope: Javier Bardem's Hairdo in 'The Counselor' Inspired by Brian Grazer's". The Hollywood Reporter . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  18. "Daniel Pemberton Scoring Ridley Scott's 'The Counselor'". Film Music Reporter. April 26, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  19. "Daniel Pemberton's 'The Counselor' Score to be Released". Soundtrack.net . Costa Communications. October 7, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  20. "Interview: Daniel Pemberton". M . Bauer Publishing. September 23, 2013. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  21. "'The Counselor' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  22. Excerpt only.
  23. Subers, Ray (October 24, 2013). "Forecast: Audiences to Take a Trip with 'Grandpa' This Weekend". Box Office Mojo . IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  24. Pomerantz, Dorothy (October 24, 2013). "Why Hollywood Needs 'Jackass'". Forbes . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  25. 1 2 Nikki Finke (October 27, 2013). "'Jackass: Bad Grandpa' Box Office Aims For Mid-$20 Millions". Deadline Hollywood .
  26. "The Counselor (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes . Flixster . Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  27. "The Counselor Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  28. O'Malley, James (November 22, 2017). "Exclusive: The Most Critically Divisive Films According To Data". Gizmodo UK. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  29. McCarthy, Todd (October 23, 2013). "The Counselor: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  30. "Kermode Uncut: My Ten Worst Movies Of 2013". YouTube. December 26, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  31. Turan, Kenneth (October 24, 2013). "Review: 'The Counselor' a bleak waste of A-list talent". Los Angeles Times .
  32. Debruge, Peter (October 24, 2013). "Film Review: 'The Counselor'". Variety . Penske Business Media . Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  33. Roeper, Richard (October 23, 2013). "'The Counselor': Outrageous sex, brutal violence and gorgeous words". Chicago Sun-Times . Sun-Times Media Group . Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  34. Dargis, Manohla (October 24, 2013). "Wildlife Is Tame; Not the Humans". The New York Times . Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  35. "Episode 10". 2013. Series 10/15. November 13, 2013. 29 minutes in. BBC. BBC One.
  36. Foundas, Scott (October 28, 2013). "Why 'The Counselor' Is One of Ridley Scott's Best Films". Variety . Penske Business Media . Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  37. Guillermo del Toro [@RealGDT] (September 28, 2015). "RIGHTING A WRONG. Film for Day 6: THE COUNSELOR Ridley Scott. A meditation of the illusory nature of normalcy and the devastation to come" (Tweet). Retrieved February 2, 2018 via Twitter.
  38. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/ridley-scott-interview-gladiator-2-alien-blade-runner-1236049190/