I rarely recommend a movie because no one ever really knows what someone else is going to like, no matter how well you know that person. Having said that…

Last night we paid $20 to rent One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film ran 2 hours and 45 minutes but the pacing was so fast –from the opening scene– it seemed much shorter.

Sean Penn gave an amazing performance as Col. Steve Lockjaw, the film’s bad guy and if you watch closely you’ll see a few scenes with Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale from The Wire). Some of the humor and the soundtrack reminded me of Quentin Tarantino but I’m not sure Mr. Tarantino could have come up with the Christmas Adventurers Club.

One Battle has earned more than $200 million and most reviews have been glowing (“A near-perfect blend of action, humor and political urgency.”)