The Last Duel (2021) – Movie Review
In medieval France, Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) challenges Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), his former friend, to a duel after his wife, Marguerite (Jodie Comer), accuses him of intruding into their home and raping her.
Having directed movies such as Alien, Blade Runner, The Martian and Gladiator, Ridley Scott has taken on a new challenge – a medieval Me Too story. And I thought he did a fantastic job with it by showing how the concept of “the truth” is actually subjective when viewed from each character’s perspective.
The movie was written by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener, each writing their own version of the story so it could be told from three different perspectives – Chapter One from Jean de Carrouges’ perspective, chapter two from Jacques Le Gris’ perspective and chapter three, emphasized as the actual true story, from Marguerite’s perspective. The writing did a great job showing the subtle differences in each character’s perspective, even while the main events remained the same. This movie is actually the first writing collaboration between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck since Good Will Hunting was released nearly 25 years ago.
Even with the storytelling, the best part of the film was undeniably the duel at the end between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris. That is what everything led up to and it was brutal. The two began on horseback jousting and I thought this was done well. The duel really picked up, though, when one was knocked from their horse and the fight was taken to ground-level. The Last Duel wasn’t jam-packed with action, but the action that it did have was done exceptionally well. Researching after seeing the movie, it turns out that this duel was actually the last legal and judicial duel in France.
Something that amazed me was seeing how far we have come as a society. At the time the movie takes place, rape was considered a property crime against the victim’s husband. It was also very common and almost an accepted way of life back then. In most cases, women wouldn’t of had the political influence to bring attention to the crime and, as portrayed in the film, even when they did, they put themselves at risk of being burned at the stake if the court deemed them to be lying.
Comer was the standout here with her acting bringing the film to another level. She did a fantastic job with her portrayal of Marguerite and with the slight differences in her character in each of the three versions of the story. A slight smile or a glint in her eye gave each scene a completely different context. Similarly, Adam Driver also did a great job and it’s nice to see him continue to expand his range as an actor.
Overall, I liked The Last Duel. It wasn’t by any means my favorite movie this year but I thought it was well done and definitely worth watching. Between the creative storytelling, the all-star cast and the fact that this event was based on a true story, I’d rate the movie 3 ½ out of 5 stars and if you’re on the fence, would recommend going ahead and giving it a shot.
The Last Duel is available for rent or purchase.