YMMV / The Counselor

• Awesome Music: Wire To The Head. That is all.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: There's a very excellent chance that when people discuss the film, they will bring up the scene where Cameron Diaz has sex with a Ferrari.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The aforementioned Ferrari scene.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: The Blonde played by Natalie Dormer.
• Magnificent Bitch: Malkina is Reiner's conniving, greedy girlfriend who's secretly masterminding most of the events in the film. Upon learning of a drug transaction between the Counselor, Reiner, and a dangerous drug cartel, Malkina opts to steal from them all and leave the Counselor to take the blame. After the Counselor bails out a drug courier who's also the son of a high-ranking cartel official, she orchestrates the murder of said courier and later has a shipment of cocaine stolen from the cartel, making it appear as though the Counselor and Reiner were involved. When the cartel retrieves the stolen drugs, Malkina revises her plans, instead going after Westray and his offshore bank accounts worth millions. After acquiring the passcodes to his accounts, Malkina has Westray assassinated, and later escapes with the money with the intent to flee to Hong Kong.
• Moral Event Horizon: Ruth — and by extension, Malkina — crosses it by ordering Laura to be brutally killed and her murder videotaped as revenge for her son's murder. What makes it worse is that the Counselor had no part in that, as she believed he did.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Westray's discussion with the Counselor about snuff films. The context and the description of the film his friend saw is disturbing by itself, but it's after this scene that the movie seems to undergo its own Despair Event Horizon.
  • The bolito scene. Hell, not just the scene, the very idea of a bolito is plenty terrifying by itself.
• Tear Jerker: Practically a staple for Cormac McCarthy. Laura's headless body (and her head) is dumped in a garbage pile and left to rot. And to top it off, she was killed over a huge misunderstanding. Then of course, there's the Counselor's Despair Event Horizon when he sees the DVD.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: To those on the "Hate it" side of the argument. Lampshaded on Rotten Tomatoes.
  RT Consensus: The Counselor raises expectations with its talented cast and creative crew -- then subverts them with a wordy and clumsy suspense thriller that's mercilessly short on suspense or thrills.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Possibly a reason for many mediocre reviews; there aren't many people to root for. Most of the characters are bad guys/girls, and the Counselor is somewhat naive and foolish.