At least let us explain ourselves. The world has turned against The Counsellor lately; negative reviews have flown in to the tune of a 34% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and people are ready to write off Ridley Scott’s directorial career. But at the risk of sounding contrary, there are a few reasons you should go and see The Counsellor tonight when it hits U.K cinemas. And here they are:

Javier Bardem and Michael Fassbender
Javier Bardem and Michael Fassbender in The Counsellor

Make your own mind up

Since websites like Rotten Tomatoes, IMBD and Metacritic make it very easy to sum up the general consensus of a movie, we’ve become tacitly complicit with a culture of trust. But instead of letting other people make our decisions for us, we should forget the stigma of possible falling in love with a bad film and test the waters for ourselves.

Bad reviews?

Historically, plenty of films have been received badly upon their release and then gone on to be genre defining. There are too many to mention, but Blade Runner and Scarface spring to mind – two films that were criticised in their own time, but went on to attain an irrevocable cult status. Now we’re not trying to say the Lone Ranger is a good film, but reviews aren’t always spot-on. Be ahead of the curve, just in case.

Check out our review of The Counsellor

Fassbender, Pitt, Cruz, Bardem… Norris

Aside from all the vitriol pointed directly at Cormac McCarthy’s first bona-fide screenplay, the film’s individual performances have received praise from some corners. And given the talent involved, those performances might just be worth a look, even if the plot doesn’t provide them with a suitable vehicle to really thrive.

Could it be so bad, it’s good?

Alright so we’ll drop the ‘Counsellor could be good’ act for a second – hypothetically at least – and put forward the idea the Ridley Scott’s latest effort could be so bad, it’s good. From what we’ve read, the film's reach for profundity and depth isn’t successful, and that’s exactly the kind of effort that can manifest into laugher.

Michael Fassbender and Brad PittBrad Pitt just showed Michael Fassbender the reviews...

Given the sheer volume of negative reviews, and a strong slate of films set for release this weekend – you can check them all out here – we don’t expect The Counsellor to do anything special at the box office this weekend. In fact, we doubt it’ll break the million mark, but why not go and see what all the fuss is about with your very own eyes?