Jean de Carrouges is a respected knight known for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. Jacques Le Gris is a squire whose intelligence and eloquence makes him one of the most admired nobles in court. When Le Gris viciously assaults Carrouges' wife, she steps forward to accuse her attacker, an act of bravery and defiance that puts her life in jeopardy. The ensuing trial by combat, a grueling duel to the death, places the fate of all three in God's hands.
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter, Nathaniel Parker. Alex Lawther
Release Date: 1h 46min
Genre: Action, Drama, History
Rated R for strong violence including sexual assault, sexual content, some graphic nudity, and language
Runtime: 2h 32min
Review:
Ridley Scott's The Last Duel is the type of gritty muddy medieval drama that plays right into his wheelhouse. The Last Duel is a perfect bookend to the director's previous historical epics, Gladiator and The Kingdom of God, with this one focused more intently on the central characters than large scale battle field carnage. That's not to say the film doesn't deliver a handful of bloody, bone crushing battle sequences including the titular duel but Scott's lens focuses more on the three main characters and their disparate versions of the truth. Matt Damon and Adam Driver both deliver strong performances but as the film goes on you get the sense that the film would have been better served had they swapped roles. Driver would have been far more believable as the hard edged brute as opposed to the strikingly handsome rapscallion the film tries incredibly hard to make us believe he is. Driver is at his best when roles embrace his embodiment of the boorish angry masculinity which would have made him perfect for Jean de Carrouges. Damon for his part delivers a workman like performance which adds bits of subtly depending on who's telling the story. Jodie Comer balances both performances with a nuanced take on a character that could have easily fallen into clichéd territory. Comer gives her a character a strong believable sense of intelligence paired with quiet strength and resolve. Ben Affleck though maybe having the most fun of all in a supporting role as a debaucherous libertine who sets off the feud between to the two men. The cast makes the film's lengthy runtime feel far more manageable due to their talents on display. The Last Duel carries multiple thematic themes and messages, some work while others come off as overly blunt. That being said the film works more than it doesn't and should please plenty of people looking for more heavy adult drama.
B+
