Hey dudes. It's been an interesting year. I'm still in school (gross), I still work at Best Buy (ew), and I'm still married to the same person ( who?). I did, however, begin writing movie reviews for an actual website. That exists. It's been a pretty cool experience so far, one that should continue into the new year, but as I do with every new year, I hope to get on here more often to talk about every other movie I watch that isn't included on Carycitizen.com.
So hey, let's start with American Hustle.
This is a really, really good movie filled with really, really good performances that for some reason I just can't make myself really, really like.
I love David O. Russell. Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, Flirting With Disaster, The Fighter. I LOVE The Fighter. I also greatly enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook, even though the awards attention it got was a bit much ( I know awards don't matter anymore, but I still obsess and fret over them so SHUT IT!). But there is a safeness to American Hustle that bothers me.
But first, the cast. My love for Christian Bale is quite well known at this point, and his comb-over here is further proof of his legend. Also, he gets the rare chance to show off his comedic chops. Like the similarly crime themed The Wolf of Wall Street, it's not really fair to call American Hustle a comedy, but the film doesn't shy away from the absurdness of the situations and characters that it fills itself with.
Speaking of absurd, Bradley Cooper rocks a perm like a true professional and turns in a great coked out performance. His Louie C.K. impression alone is worth the price of admission.
However, this is the Amy Adams show all the way. Fierce, determined, and boobies, Adams steals every scene she's in with an intensity and fake British accent that can't be ignored.
I really didn't like Jennifer Lawrence when she first started out, but with The Hunger Games films and even Silver Linings Playbook she's pretty much won me over. She's really good in Hustle too, but her accent is all over the place and next to the perfect accents by Bale, Adams and even Jeremy Renner it makes her stand out in the not so best way.
As good as the cast is though, it's director Russell that really keeps the flick from being great. The film is based on the true Abscam story from the late 70s, but Russell cleverly puts "Some of this really happened" at the opening of his film, admitting right off the bat that liberties have been taken. To me, that says that he is more concerned about entertaining the audience rather than educating them, which is by no means a bad thing. I prefer it really, if I want an accurate and educational film about the subject, I'll watch a documentary. (I will not, however, read a book about it. Because that's stupid.)
It's just that Russell leans a little too far on entertainment. As likable as Bale and Adams are, their characters are crooks. Maybe not the worst of crooks, but crooks none the less. They get themselves in the horrifying situation of being used by drug addicted F.B.I agent Cooper, and while it's entertaining to watch Bale squirm as Cooper asks for more and more, it also undermines some of the actual drama the film creates with Jeremy Renner's character, a genuinely decent politician that's being conned by Bale and Cooper.
I guess it's that Russell likes these characters too much. Everyone seems to have ulterior motives and despite all the back stabbing and seemingly increasing chance of everyone being killed by each other or even the mob, everyone walks away relatively unscathed. It's all a little anticlimactic.
I really don't hate American Hustle. I laughed a lot and enjoyed seeing the talented cast have a blast with these outrageous characters. But I really wanted to love this movie. Even more confusing is that I can't call it a disappointment either. Just a good movie brought down a peg by its really talented director. Weird.
I plan on talking about my favorite films of 2013 on here soon. Unfortunately I still have like 424 movies to see so it might not be for a little while. Either way, I'm seeing Anchorman 2 later this week ( I know, why haven't I seen it already?) so I'll hop on here and tell you guys my thoughts on it whether you want to hear it or not.
