'The Counselor' Review Roundup: Ridley Scott's Latest Is a Mess and Wastes Talented Cast

This weekend 20^th Century Fox will release the highly anticipated film "The Counselor."

Starring Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt, "The Counselor" tells the story of a lawyer who finds himself in over his head when he gets involved in the drug trafficking business.

With its star-filled cast and acclaimed author Cormac McCarthy penning the screenplay - his first - the film has attracted plenty of hype. However, the studio has kept the film largely hidden from critics, with few outlets offering reviews prior to its release. The film premiered a few weeks ago but Fox embargoed the reviews.

However, after weeks of waiting the first reviews have surfaced on the web and many critics are not favorable.

Josh Bell from the Las Vegas Weekly gave the film two stars out of five and said, "Maybe in the hands of another director, McCarthy's obtuse screenplay could have come alive, but Scott, however talented he is at helming big studio productions, is not the guy for the job, and he brings no flavor or style to the proceedings, merely presenting McCarthy's mannered words in a flat, basic manner."

Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter wrote, "What one is left with is a very bleak ending and an only slightly less depressing sense of the waste of a lot of fine talent both behind and in front of the camera."

David Thompson of the New Republic  said, "'The Counselor' is a very bad film, and I suspect that a lot of the actors knew that already as they did their work. It lacks clarity, plausibility, suspense, and purpose. But it has two lovely cheetahs and the exquisite elegance of Bruno Ganz, Now, if only some real director had had the idea of letting Ganz simply talk to those aloof cats for a couple of hours. In black and white, on the shores of Hartlepool?"

However, Ed Sykus of the Norwich Bulletin enjoyed the film and said, "Some viewers will complain of murky plotting, of certain things not being fully explained. But that's OK. One of the best things about the film is that it never gives you time to relax; you're always wondering about what exactly is going on, what will happen next, and who else will be dragged into its ever-growing web."

Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a perfect score and wrote, "'The Counselor' achieves the almost unheard-of daily double of giving us the most outrageous sex scene of the year AND the most unforgettably brutal murder of the year. This is a badass journey from start to finish."

"The Counselor" is directed by Ridley Scott and also stars Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo, Natalie Dormer, Bruno Ganz, Goran Visnjic and Dean Morris. The movie is rated R for grisly images, graphic violence, strong sexual content, and language and will be released in 3,000 theaters.