Thursday, January 23, 2014

American Hustle

Dustin: 5 of 5 stars Nick: 4.5 of 5 stars Average: 4.75 of 5 stars (Tweety canary)

 
Dustin: Hey Nick, what did you think of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones? 

Nick: I didn’t think of it. I haven’t seen it. Have you? 

Dustin: As if I’d waste one second of my life watching that turd. So let’s talk about American Hustle instead. 

Nick: David O. Russell’s film is “based on a true story” about a con man (Christian Bale) and woman (Amy Adams) who are forced by a glory seeking FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) into ousting corrupt politicians. 

Dustin: “Some of this actually happened.”

This might have been the best movie of the year. It was hilarious and it unfolded cleverly. I loved the character study. Unlike 12 Years a Slave, where all the characters were black or white, this story has Italians, Jews, Mexicans, and morally, they all are shades of gray. Christian Bale says several times he sees the world only in shades of gray, and that really comes across with these complex characters. 

Nick: If there was a ever a line I never knew where a character stood. 

Dustin: You have Bale’s character, Rosenfeld, an unscrupulous con man who has a soft spot for the mayor he’s setting up, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Polito is corrupt, but he genuinely cares about people, especially his constituents. Amy Adams plays Sydney Prosser, a con artist even more skilled than Rosenfeld whose dishonesty is really a survival instinct. Bradley Cooper is an FBI agent who is overly ambitious and quickly gets himself into more trouble than he can handle. Finally, Jennifer Lawrence in a secondary role almost steals the movie as Bale’s ditzy wife. She has to be one of the most versatile actresses around today. 

Nick: While Lawrence has been slightly glorified in the past, I would never argue against her getting any award for this film. The film was definitely the best cast of the year. Everyone was well suited to their roles even the minor ones like Louis C.K.! That’s right, Louis C.K. is in the film quite a bit and adds great character to the “No” man above Cooper’s hot-shot copper. 

Dustin: Louis C.K. is probably the only one who could have pulled off that role. His lines were quite funny, but he delivered them dry enough that they got laughs without breaking the tone of the movie. 

Nick: The cast is so well done that I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing any of these roles.  The actors became the characters. 

Dustin: Christian Bale quite literally became his character, packing on quite a few pounds. I imagine he must’ve eaten a quart of ice cream a day for months to get that belly. I wouldn’t be surprised if he even got circumcised to portray his Jewish character. The way he goes all out for his roles, like in The Machinist, is part of what makes his movies so appealing.
The Machinist (2004)
Batman Begins (2005)
American Hustle (2013)

Nick: I couldn’t tell if it was a fat suit or not. I know he always transforms himself, but normally there will be all this news around how he’s losing/gaining weight for a film and nothing caught my eye. Still, not only is he able to achieve the body type he is always able to mentally get there as well. 

Dustin: If there was anything that didn’t work for you in this movie, what was it? 

Nick: There was nothing substantial in the misfiring department, but if complaining is necessary (it is) than I’d say the pacing was slightly off, the film was slightly too long and the climax was satisfactory, but not exceptional. 

Dustin: I agree the film felt a little long, but I don’t really care since I enjoyed it so much. I think I did look at my watch twice to try to figure out what act we were in. I agree the climax wasn’t exceptional, but I’ll say it was pleasing. I was worried this movie could end with a dud, but it wrapped things up in a satisfying way, so I was glad the preceding two hours wasn’t wasted. 

Nick: It was interesting that I as well never knew what act the film was in. That makes the film stronger to me in a way because its setting things up but not in an obvious way to where you say to yourself “this is obviously the rising action.” The whole film felt like the rising action. 

Dustin: This is the first film we’ve given the “Tweety canary” status to. Our mark of quality. Everyone should go see this movie.

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