Based on the early buzz, it’s looking like One Battle After Another, the new film from Paul Thomas Anderson starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Denicio del Toro, is going to be something special when it arrives in theaters this week. One person who believes that is director Steven Spielberg, who has been praising the movie ahead of release, something that has the movie’s two stars absolutely losing it.
Speaking with Extra, DiCaprio and del Toro are asked their thoughts on Spielberg’s praise of One Battle After Another. And while both are clearly thrilled, they actually have difficulty getting the words out, which is something of a shock for two guys who are generally paid a lot of money specifically to speak. It’s kind of adorable. Check it out.
Leonardo DiCaprio was directed by Spielberg in Catch Me If You Can, and it’s clear the actor has a great deal of respect for the accomplished director. He appreciates the compliments for his new movie. While DiCaprio has talked about how The Big Lebowski inspired him, he also mentions another influence that Spielberg called out from another great director (and one of the great cinematic comedies of all time) Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. DiCaprio said…
The ultimate stamp of approval right there, Spielberg. I mean, he related to a Kubrick sort of Dr. Strangelove. For anyone out there that hasn’t seen Dr. Strangelove, it’s got political parts to it, but it’s also this insane comedy world of extremisms, ridiculousness. Paul captured something like that, and Spielberg said something relating to that, that’s for me, that’s like the greatest compliment and achievement we could get.
While Benicio del Toro has never been directed by Steven Spielberg, he clearly knows the man’s work. He makes his own reference to Spielberg’s first film, The Duel, a movie that, even for a great director like Spielberg, not a lot of people have seen. Del Toro seems to feel that One Battle After Another takes a bit of inspiration from the movie, saying…
There’s one Speiberg who can make movies that are very human and at the same time very commercial and very popular...I would say Spielberg movies, which is like they’re big events and everybody turns to them and everybody is emotionally connected to those stories, even though those movies can be really big, and I think this movie has that, you know. I think there’s something very Spielberg to this film, and it reminds me a little bit of Spielberg’s first movie, The Duel. There’s moments that are very much from that movie.
Del Toro makes a great point in calling out Spielberg’s ability to make movies that are both emotionally resonant with audiences and successful at the box office. Many projects tend to fall in one camp or the other, and Steven Spielberg is one of a fairly small class who can make movies that both win awards and win at the box office.
One Battle After Another feels like a film that will certainly be in the awards hunt when the first months of 2026 roll around. The question of whether it will also be a crowd-pleaser is another topic entirely. Certainly, anybody who hears what Steven Spielberg has to say about the movie may be buying tickets right now.
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