LOS ANGELES − Amid serious themes of political struggle, oppression and resistance in Paul Thomas Anderson's big-budget satire "One Battle After Another," there's laugh-out-loud comedy − especially when Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro share the screen for the first time.
DiCaprio, 50, subverts his Hollywood leading man image by wearing a ratty red robe, unkempt hair and oversized sunglasses as former revolutionary and current stoner Bob Ferguson, who is forced back into action to save himself and his daughter (Chase Infiniti) from paramilitary enforcers.
There are clear parallels to Jeff Bridges' "The Dude" role in the Coen Brothers' "The Big Lebowski."
"Think about 'The Dude,' if he was put into a modern context and was a revolutionary," DiCaprio says of the robe, speaking in a joint interview with del Toro for the new movie (in theaters Sept. 26). "We had a lot of discussions, because I have one costume. Bob's got his cape: the red robe he was getting stoned in at home alone when giant forces tried to ruin his life."
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