'The Last Duel' Review: Comer and Driver Shine in Ridley Scott's Superbly Written Drama
With an all-star cast and one of the best screenplays of the year, Ridley Scott’s historical drama is the biggest surprise of 2021 so far.
From the moment The Last Duel was announced, many people thought it was going to be an absolute train-wreck. Some complaints stemmed from its casting, the writing team of Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Nicole Holofcener, and even director Ridley Scott. But the number one issue many expressed with this movie was its focus on the last legally sanctioned duel in France, centered around a woman’s rape. Given the landscape of the world, and everything that has been uncovered from the Me Too movement, it makes you question if we are ready to talk about this massive issue in a thematic format, and it can be treated with the care and seriousness needed to make it all work. Well after months of delay, and rapid skepticism, The Last Duel is one of the biggest surprises of the year and proves to be the best work for all involved for some time.
Told in a three act structure, The Last Duel starts off by introducing the friendship between Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver). They are both men of war who serve at the command of Count Pierre d'Alençon (Ben Affleck), as well as the King of France. At the end of a hard fought battle, Jean becomes romantically involved with the daughter of a disgraced France ally, Marguerite (Jodie Comer). He weds her, and this is where the trouble for all parties involved begins. It becomes the buildup for events of the head to head battle seen towards the end of the film.
The first act follows Jean’s rise and fall within the ranks of the French elite. His father passes, his land and title are given away by Count Pierre to Le Gris, thus throwing a massive wrench into their relationship. It’s in these moments where Damon, the weak link in the cast, thrives the most, showing the pain this man is going through as he is losing all that he believes rightly belongs to him. Act two follows Le Gris, with events shown from his perspective, and gives answers as to why his friend’s life is going into shambles. Le Gris has fallen under the spell of the Count, where his loyalty and talents of reading and writing are used to make matters of the state become balanced. While doing this, he learns that any woman can be his because of his stature in the world. It’s the kind of power money and kills on a battlefield can’t earn and Le Gris becomes obsessed with it. Marguerite isn’t the only victim that he abuses, she’s just the one that speaks up against his vile actions.
This leads to the final third of the film, where Marguerite’s side of the story is shown. From the beginning, it is clear she is trapped in a loveless marriage and has no real attraction or affection for Jean but she knows she is his wife, and by law, is bound to him. She tries to make the best of it, by having friends and offering her husband advice when needed. Marguerite also takes over the duties that Jean had neglected while he is off fighting in battles. Though she has built this steady source of happiness for herself, it’s all taken away by the despicable actions of Le Gris, which is shown through both his and her perspective, and it is clear that he has in fact done what he is accused of. Once this happens, we are shown the rest of the true story as it played out, with Marguerite sitting in a courtroom, explaining herself to a room full of men, begging for someone to believe. It’s moments like this where the real life and this event mirror one another, as laws in this country and around the world pertaining to rape and women’s bodies are put up to the audience to show that nothing has changed over time, which is downright shameful.
This script by Damon, Affleck, and Holofcener shouldn’t work given that all the writers took one act of this movie and wrote it separately from one another, and combined it all together. Yet, its separate acts unblur the lines of confusion within this massive story to find the truth of what happened. We learn just enough in repeated events to gain clues but not become bored by seeing a scene we have seen within another chapter of this film. Through this experiment, The Last Duel stages itself as one of the best scripts Ridley Scott has ever directed. And speaking of this direction, it’s Scott’s best in a long time. While he has lived in this historical action drama realm for the latter part of his career, all the action here, as bloody and dirty as he’s ever produced, flows with all of the character’s motivations and affects their overall endgame to the final faceoff at the end. Throw in the darkly gorgeous cinematography by Dariusz Wolski and the methodical editing of Claire Simpson, and this is one of the better crafted films of the year.
From the performance’s side of the camera, The Last Duel belongs to Comer, Driver, and Affleck. With Comer, she is the emotional core of this film, making the audience empathize for her every step of the way. She is the vessel for every person who has ever gone through this terrible event and had to live in a world where no one believes them, even willing to put her life on the line to prove her allegations are true. Marguerite states she “won’t be silent” and with Comer’s work here, here’s hoping it can inspire others to open up and speak their truth. She is excellent. To her male counterparts, Driver is as terrifyingly as he is captivating as Le Gris, and with this villainous turn, he continues to show why he is the best actor working today. Then there is Affleck, who steals every scene he is in. As the Count, he provides proof of how power in the hands of the dangerous can lead to the cover-up of horrific events. One moment he is charming you and the next he is being as evil as Le Gris.
If there is one complaint of The Last Duel, it’s that this is a lot to take in. With its subject matter, intense action packed finale, and two and a half hour run time, this might not be for everyone. There are moments multiple moments of sexual violence that are very hard to watch. But if audiences take a chance on it, there is no way to not be swept up in this film and how important it will be to continue to talk about stories like this till women like Marguerite and others so that this never has to happen to them again. There is a long way to go, and before the healing process begins, justice must be found, and The Last Duel is a step in both directions.