King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges settle his dispute with his squire by challenging him to a duel.
“The Last Duel,” the latest project from Academy Award winners, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, is a riveting and exciting true story about the results of the vicious attack by Jacques Le Gris on Jean de Carrouges’ wife Marguerite. The film follows the three different perspectives of our main characters about this horrifying event. I loved how these three stories pan out slightly differently, even though we watch the same scene three times, depending on the narrator. Even though the movie was two hours and 33 minutes long, it was well-paced and I was on the edge of my seat, wanting to know more. As an audience member, I felt like a juror during a court trial.
Matt Damon was believable as Jean de Carrouges. Damon is a true A-list actor, he knows how to engross himself in a role. Personally, it can be hard for me to distance the actor from previous characters they have played but Damon can do that well. He simply disappears into the role. He plays a well-known and respected soldier in the 1300s who marries a beautiful woman by the name of Marguerite de Carrouges, to bear his child. He is a brutal, rude, uncaring husband that uses Marguerite for his benefit. Damon did well depicting the stereotypes men had for women back in that era.
Adam Driver plays the despicable and cunning Jacques Le Gris. This is our main antagonist of that story who duels Damon’s character. Driver has come a long way since his big debut role as Star Wars’ Kylo Ren. From “BlackKklansman” to “Marriage Story” to this new story, Driver has really shown his range. It will be a while before I can do a meet and greet with the actor because he really made me hate him in this film.
Our central female protagonist, Marguerite, is played by Jodie Comer. I was first introduced to Comer as the supporting actress in the highly-rated action-comedy, “Free Guy.” You may also know her from the Emmy-winning TV show “Killing Eve” with Sandra Oh. I really loved her in this film. She did great with the subtle differences between pleasure and pain when acting out the same scene but from different perspectives. She was definitely the stand-out of the movie and with her only being 28, I can’t wait to see her in future films.
Overall, this movie is not one to miss! I am very positive it will get a few Academy Award nominations. Once again, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck show how powerful their writing is. You will definitely enjoy this chilling period piece and it will have you talking about difficult topics like this one for days after.
In Theaters Friday, October 15th
