"AIR" as a movie is a specific exercise in a way but the reason it works is because the people making it have a certain freedom without being exploitative. It is a very specific story told with good actors in an almost compacted space with a sense of scale.

"The Last Duel" is, in many way, fairly straightforward in its structure but in seeing the inherent structure post viewing it builds an interesting viewpoint in its dynamic but it is not as powerful as it might have been.

While it takes a couple scenes to get what the dynamic is going to be, it is truly Christian Bale's brilliance that comes together. Unlike certain more sleazy or perhaps characters on a moral precipice, here he plays a character which is utterly charming with a chip on his shoulder and yet wants to be both a provider against his bigger ego.