American Hustle

American Hustle

2013

Drama/Comedy

4.5 stars out of 5

David O. Russell’s “America Hustle” tells an oddly varied story of the Abscam corruption case from the late 1970’s/early 1980’s wherein six US Representatives and one US Senator were convicted of corruption. The story focuses on a fictionalized version of the con-man at the center of the FBI sting (Melvin Weinberg), a fictionalized FBI agent, and two (hopefully) fictionalized women in the con-man’s life.

The con-man, Irving Rosenfeld is played by Christian Bale as an overweight, comb-over loser/anti-hero. Bale walks a tightrope as he shows us Irving succeeding at his various cons but in complete thrall to his Jersey Shore-esque wife Rosalyn played by Jennifer Lawrence. Since it seems that everything that Lawrence does these days, she does at a performance level so far above almost all of her peers, it is no surprise to watch her as she portrays a beautiful but empty-header schemer with complete believability. Irving is smart enough to run or sense a scam on every occasion, while Rosalyn has so fooled herself that she is the smartest person in the room, she inevitably misunderstands almost every scene she is in – sometimes to comic effect, sometimes to disastrous effect.

In stark contrast, the other woman in Irving’s life is Sydney Prosser played exceptionally well (revealingly so) by Amy Adams. This ex-stripper from Albuquerque meets Irving at a pool party and its love/crime at first sight. Sydney via her oddly chosen alternate persona of Lady Edith joins Irving in his scams and ups the ante considerably in their defiance of the law. Eventually, they are trapped by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) who forces them into helping him with the Abscam sting mentioned above.

The story arc is highly entertaining and waxes and wanes between comedy and drama; it even includes a chilling portrayal of an uncredited cameo by Robert DeNiro as a Florida mobster. But in truth, this is a story of excess during a time of excess in America perpetrated by people lacking in any excesses (wealth, taste, vision) of their own. The quartet of Irving, Rosalyn, Sydney and Richie consist of people that really aren’t fooling anyone, even themselves; they are just faking it. They each are yearning for something more from life (though Rosalyn is too dense to even know what it might be), and each is willing to break any norm, any law to get it.

As I watched the movie I was reminded on several occasions of George Roy Hill’s “The Sting” (1973) starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. In that movie as in “American Hustle” you have lovable anti-heroes trying to scam some truly awful people (whom in Hollywood, I guess it is morally okay to scam), and you know as you watch, there will be a double-scam wherein our heroes get away with it. Oh so Hollywood. But also like The Sting, American Hustle is an outstanding movie well worth watching for the adult level humor; but most especially for Bale, Adams’, and Lawrence’s acting, and for the inevitable coda at the end of the story arc. You want these heroes to get what they want, and well…they do.

This is definitely a movie only for adults. There is an enormous of profanity and some (let’s say) suggestive clothing.

Les Miserables

Les Misérables

2012
Musical/Drama
4.5 stars out of 5

I love musicals. I have since I was a child and first saw Oklahoma! From it through at least one Elvis quasi-musical (State Fair with Ann Margaret) to Moulin Rouge,  I wonder if I have seen one that I hated (Grease comes to mind; sorry). Les Misérables occupies for me a rare position - easily one of the best pictures I have seen in the past five years.

The story of Jean Valjean as expressed in Les Misérables is based originally on the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo and also on the musical theatre productions that go back to 1980 Paris. The salvation of Jean Valjean, his pursuit by the tortured Inspector Javert and the stories of Fantine and Cossette provide more than sufficient story material just on the surface level. You could also follow the movie for its depiction of how desperate the plight of the poor were in early 19^th century France, and the indifference of almost everyone as an allegory to modern America, and you would not be displeased.

However, there is an even deeper layer to the story, and it is best revealed in the first act. There one is nearly overcome with emotion as you watch the love and devotion of the local Monsignor when he forgives Valjean’s thievery, and thus starts the wheels of redemption that eventually saves Valjean from himself, not to mention from Javert and society at large. This scene is followed very shortly by what I consider the highlight of the entire movie: the step by step degradation of Fantine culminating with her incredible song of dreams lost. The other notable part of the story involve the moral ascent of Valjean after he re-covers his soul; especially when this is contrasted to the moral descent of Javert as he clings to the law and his tight walk along a moral precipice.

The story arc, theme and technical artistry aside (watch the camera angles of the boat being dragged into the not so dry dry-docks or consider that all the singing was recorded live), the acting and singing are for the most part just superb. Both Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean and Anne Hathaway as Fantine sing and act at the highest levels. Meanwhile Isabelle Allen as young Cossette and Samantha Barks as the adult Éponine sing superbly. And even though I usually cringe when I see another love triangle, in this movie I get to see Éponine, the adult Cossette and Marius (played by Amanda Seyfried and  Eddie Redmayne, respectively) sing their way through it, and it makes it more than watchable, it makes it a work of art.

To be sure there were things I would have wished done differently: chief amongst them, I would have re-written the movie to remove the discordant comic elements and inadequate singing of Sacha Baron Cohen as Thénardier. I did like having Helena Bonham Carter in the role of Madam Thénardier in order to provide the dark counterpoint to young Cossette’s beautifully sung “Castle on a Cloud”. And though criticized by many, I also like using Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert. Yes, you can discuss his vocal limitations. However, his solo atop the rooftops of Paris as he sings and walks the knife edge between life and his own doomed redemption,  and then once again this time above the Seine, Crowe proves his worth for the role. His dramatic abilities and fair to good singing makes for a more than competent Javert.

From the amazing opening to the lyrically described triangle to the tragic but redemptive ending, I loved this movie, and strongly recommend it to anyone even mildly interested in musicals.

War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds

2005

Science Fiction
4.0 stars out of 5

Sometimes I watch movies solely to deconstruct them, and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds is a great one to take apart. The movie states it is based on the 1898 novel by HG Wells, but I think they might well have given more overt credit to the 1938 Halloween radio broadcast by Orson Welles (funny  how he and HG almost share a surname) and his Mercury Theatre compatriots.

Just watch the first five minutes and count the number of homages to Orson; the style and tone of the opening narration by Morgan Freeman being the most obvious, the long tracking shot being another. Spielberg and his writers also make extensive use of foreshadowing during these opening sequences that become quite clear by the movie’s end. Consider the camera fade from a view of Earth that slowly turns into a blood red planet and then into a red traffic light - all pretty easy to puzzle out, but still pretty cool in my opinion. Another aspect that I like is the aliens’ (Martians if the red means anything) tripod machinery. From their bull-like bellowing to a 19^th Century vision of machinery (watch the steam, clanking, and water expulsion as they rise from the ground) to the sinuous movement of their tentacles; these mechanical creations seem clearly designed by Spielberg and company to evoke something unearthly but also something Victorian.

Another aspect of this movie worth watching is to see Tom Cruise play Ray Ferrier, a car loving longshoreman.  At first we see him as he sees himself, manly, capable, and every woman’s desire. But his children played by Justin Chatwin as Robbie and Dakota Fanning as Rachel soon show us, Ray is less than a capable dad. We know this story arc because we’ve seen it so many times before. We expect to see Ray mature from his Peter Pan version of an adult into a real adult that earns the love of his children. Yes, we’ve seen it before, but in this movie, we have a chance to see some unusual forces that re-shape Ray: the panic, the near catatonia in some, the withdrawal and disassociation of many of the people undergoing an alien assault. The psychological effects from invasion are not usually addressed in such movies. It was refreshing, if hard to watch for the pain of the sufferers. In the end, we see what we expect to see from Hollywood, but quite frankly, if you watch the movie for the little things, you can really enjoy this film.

Some violence that would be quite inappropriate for children under 10, but a good science fiction movie with deep roots in radio and literature than is worth seeing.

 

 

 

Broken City

Broken City

2013
Crime/neo-Film Noir
3.0 stars out of 5

As I watched this movie, I almost stopped after the first third and wrote a scathing review. I thought it should be re-named Cliché City or Dumb and Dumber III. But for even so inept a movie, I thought that it was inept of me to not watch the entire movie. So, I slogged on, and was surprised in the second act, and even more so in the final act.

Like so many, I loved “Chinatown” and then later “L.A. Confidential”, and when I saw this movie’s description and that it starred Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg, I thought great, a new Film Noir with two excellent actors. As I note above, the first act quickly disabused me of that idea. Crowe, an actor I greatly admire (see for example The Insider) plays sleazy Mayor Hostetler in a manner so over the top; I kept asking myself, is this intentional? How could he so overact this part? Wahlberg plays (and very well I might add) Billy Taggart, a disgraced and humbled former detective hired by the mayor to investigate the mayor’s wife Cathleen, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Billy stumbles along taking pictures and not understanding a thing. Billy is so not paying attention, and after one too many dead giveaways that all is not as it seems, you start wonder how Billy ever graduated from Grade School let alone made it to detective.

However, as the movie progressed, it pulled me in. There are no big twists by movie’s end that could not be seen from a mile away, but it does have a satisfactory story arc and an acceptable ending. The other reason to watch is to catch another performance by Jeffery Wright (currently stealing the show on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire as Dr. Narcisse) as he plays the police commissioner working for whom? This latter point is the one part of the movie that kept me watching – I was never sure until the end in this character’s case.

No graphic violence, but mature themes keep this one for the adults.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2013
Fantasy
4.5 stars out of 5

I love science fiction, but I am normally only mildly interested in fantasy. The problem for both genres is that they make up their own rules for their various universes, but then too often break them whenever it is convenient to do so. Why it works better for me in science fiction than in fantasy is hard to say, but I think it has to do with whole concept of the Suspension of Disbelief. Every work of fiction requires such a suspension, but how often or how far the writer requires you to suspend it is where the problem lies; too often, the writer has destroyed an otherwise good story. And in my opinion, flying multi-ton, fire breathing, (did I mention, talking) dragons where everyone else in this universe is constrained by the normal rules of gravity are for me problematic.

Now that I have that off my chest, I loved this episode of “The Hobbit” by Peter Jackson. He has done again what is for me the most astounding job of telling an almost un-filmable story. His cinemagraphic vision is breathtaking. I could go see any of the previous Lord of the Ring Trilogy movies or the more recent first two Hobbit movies just to lose myself in his various aerial shots of grand landscapes. In this movie Jackson has achieved an astonishing film sequence along a river that combines incredible stunts, camera angles and CGI that truly has to be seen. I think it could be used as a class in film school.

To be sure, Jackson’s technical artistry is consistently good throughout the movie (the various CGI men or orcs on horses or wargs are a weird lapse of quality), but this story brings more. We have the opportunity to watch two subplots wherein the seduction of power begins its corrosive effects on two of our heroes: Bilbo, played by Martin Freeman, falls further under the Ring’s lure and Thorin, well-played by Richard Armitrage, continues a multi-generational obsession with a large jewel. This theme also plays out in the Ring Trilogy. It makes one wonder if Tolkien, when he wrote The Hobbit in the late 1930’s, was overtly commenting on Hitler and his cohort. The main theme of The Hobbit (as well as the Lord of the Rings) is The Quest wherein Good is locked in constant and near overwhelming combat with Evil. And, of course, this is where fiction almost always gets in trouble: the good guys never miss, and the bad guys never hit. But Jackson tells this old tale so well.

This movie is really worth seeing if you’re ten or older. It is far too violent for the little ones.

Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies

2013

Comedy/Love Story/Horror

3.5 stars out of 5

While I am a fan of many zombie movies, I am not that big a fan of the classic Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Gets Girl back three act play. But hey, put both together in one movie and I have to see it. 

You would think it tough to make the story of a zombie boy falling in love with a human girl work, but work it does. If fact, I found myself completely engaging in the couple’s story in the first reel. You can see them as zombies, and you can see them as people with human needs. At times between the laughs, you could almost tear up if you engage a little too much.

The movie tells the story of R a zombie teen played by Nicholas Hoult and the object of his desire, Julie played by Teresa Palmer. We learn of his unease at being a zombie but also of his interest in things human (a rather odd variation to Ariel’s fascination in The Little Mermaid). R must woo Julie under rather vexing circumstances, but is eventually able to do so, roughly anyway. By the third reel R has a much improved complexion, a beating heart, and a new life.

The movie has a few rough zombie thrills, but is quite frankly a really refreshing version of an old story; two old stories actually.