The smallest crumb can devour us. Cormac McCarthy believes so strongly in the danger of our crumbs that he’s warned us twice: the first time in his novel, “Blood Meridian,” and the second time in his screenplay, “The Counselor,” which was released by Vintage Books on Oct. 15. The actual movie comes out next week. If director Ridley Scott stays true to what McCarthy wrote, “The Counselor” looks to be one of the most poetic and savage movies of the year. Its violence will turn your stomach and its sex will induce abstinence in ways church groups could only dream of.
But McCarthy has always had a knack for finding the most valuable of truths in humanity’s darkest recesses. In that way his screenplay, which reads like a dialogue-heavy novella, is no different from his other fiction. McCarthy’s lead, known only as “counselor,” does a job for Mexican drug lords. It’s supposed to be a one-off deal that sets up him, his new fiancé, and a few of his friends for the good life. It doesn’t work out that way, as you might guess. The counselor’s story is straight tragedy, more Globe Theatre than Hollywood.
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