2013: The Year in Film: "American Hustle" Review

Yep. This review is the latest thing ever. This movie isn't even new on DVD... I'm pretty sure I've owned it since March. Let's just pretend, shall we?

David O'Russell is on an insane roll lately, you guys. After an early career that included the insanely underrated Three Kings, since 2010 he's released The Fighter (so good, you guys) and Silver Linings Playbook, which is one of the best romantic comedies of the last 20 years and a pretty darn good sports movie to boot. So his latest film features an absolutely stacked cast, reuniting with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, who starred in Silver Linings, and Amy Adams and Christian Bale, who were great and perfect in The Fighter and adding Jeremy Renner in a fictionalized account of the FBI's ABSCAM operation of the 1970's.

The Good: the performances are, in a word, great. Christian Bale is understated and unrecognizable as a paunchy small-time con artist who finds himself forced to work with law enforcement. Amy Adams turns in a solid performance as his mistress and partner and Bradley Cooper once again proves that he's more than just a pretty face. Jennifer Lawrence, despite the fact that she's easily 10 years too young to convincingly play mom and housewife to Christian Bale, is incredibly likable, charming and often hilarious and almost succeeds in making you forget that she's 23 years old and playing a character who's probably supposed to be 35.  The film is often charming and funny, if a bit scattered, but the performances hold everything together. The settings, costume design, music and atmosphere are very convincing, and if the reaction of my parents was any indication, this film nails the 70's.

The Bad: this film wants SO badly to be "important".  It wants to be an instant classic in the vein of the golden age of American film. Unfortunately... it's not. That's not to say that it's bad, far from it, it's just nowhere near as significant and timely as it thinks it is. And that's fine. A film isn't required to be a classic in order to have value... but when a film is explicitly setting out to be "a classic" from the jump... that becomes problematic. Ultimately, this film is trying to say SOMETHING so damn hard that it almost ends up saying nothing at all. Were this a film by a lesser filmmaker featuring lesser talent that would hardly be a complaint, but unfortunately this film falls victim to the weight of its expectations, as unfair as that may be.



Ultimately, if you're a fan of David O'Russell and/or great acting across the board, you could do much worse than American Hustle and you'll probably quite enjoy it. Unfortunately, given the talent involved, you can't help but be a LITTLE disappointed by the whole thing.  It's good, it's just not amazing, and as unfair a standard that is to hold  film to, it's applicable here. The whole thing ends up feeling a bit picturesque, as if we're dropped in to get a portrait of the life and times of these people, who ultimately we don't care that much about. Great, great performances and an ultimately fun film, but in the end it has less poignancy about greed and American corruption than does another holiday awards favorite: The Wolf of Wall Street.

7.5/10.

2012: The Year in Film: "The Dark Knight Rises" Review

So Chris Nolan is unquestionably one of the 2-3 best directors working today. His Batman series is absolutely in the running for the best trilogy in cinematic history. For my money, the list consists of The Godather trilogy, Lord of the Rings, and Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. Pretty solid company, and that's a discussion for another day, but my main point is simply that these films are important, not merely as comic book or "genre" films, but as legitimately great works that have value far beyond mere entertainment. In resurrecting arguably the most popular character in all of American fiction and treating him seriously, Nolan changed comic book movies forever,(along with Bryan Singer, no doubt)showing the world that characters from the world of comic books can and should both provide great works of entertainment and be taken seriously doing so. Even if his films weren't tremendous (they are), that alone would be a significant achievement. Combining a filmmaker of Nolan's talent with a cast including such legitimately great talents as Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman, and you're doing great, award-worthy work with a character who not so long ago was participating in nonsense that included benippled suits. Batman Begins and the Dark Knight are two of the best films released in the last decade and are among my favorites. (even though I personally think that Batman Begins is underrated and The Dark Knight is overrated, they are still very fine films in the 8.5-9 range) So let's take a look at how the capstone is, shall we?

First, it goes without saying that 1.) you should have watched Batman Begins and the Dark Knight before seeing this movie, and 2.) it will be near impossible for me to review this flick without having at least minor spoilers. I will keep them to a minimum, but it's simply not possible to discuss most flicks and this one in particular using vague platitudes. I will keep big details out. Let's rock.

Following the events of The Dark Knight, where the actions of the Joker took everything to an insane level and drove Harvey Dent to murder and madness, Batman took the fall for Dent's crimes and Bruce hung up the cape and cowl as new tougher crime laws passed in Dent's name were used to crush organized crime in the city.  Batman hasn't been seen in years and Gotham is enjoying a period of peace for the first time in decades while Bruce waits on the sidelines.   Against this backdrop a new, sinister force called simply Bane is rising that threatens to bring Gotham to its knees and forces the Batman back into the game in a new, changed Gotham with some new faces that only make the game more complicated.   Bane's plan?  Simply destroy Bruce Wayne and force Gotham City to tear itself apart.  As an older, rusty Batman faces his biggest challenge yet his survival and the survival of his beloved Gotham are both very much in doubt.   Did that read like the future back of the Blu Ray box? Sure. But I told you I'd be keeping things largely spoiler free..

The good:

• The acting is great, top to bottom.  Just about everybody brings their A game, especially Caine, Hathaway and Hardy.  Bale is very strong and brings an interesting new dimension to the Bruce Wayne/Batman character.  Blog favorite Tom Hardy is tremendous as Bane, bringing a physicality, a competence and a very human menace to the man who represents Batman's biggest challenge.  The fact that he does all of this while most of his face is covered by a mask is remarkable.  Batman's supporting cast of Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon and Michael Caine as Alfred all do what they've done throughout the films in this series, and that's raise the quality of every single scene they are in.  I would argue that Fox, Gordon and Alfred represent Batman's mind, spirit and heart respectfully, but that's a discussion for another day... Caine, especially, does great work in depicting Alfred at his most concerned and paternalistic.  Let me say it, I've been hating on Anne Hathaway as Catwoman since the moment she was cast, but she's tremendous.  Truly a revelation.  I apologize to everyone involved for doubting that she could pull it off.  Let me say that if you didn't like Anne Hathaway before, you'll definitely like her after seeing this flick.   Joseph Gordon Levitt is more than capable as rookie cop John Blake, who has a special interest in Batman.
• Obviously, the filmmaking is tremendous.  The movie looks great, plain and simple, and Nolan has a real filmmaker's eye for knowing how to use atmosphere to build his films.  As we've seen, Batman is a character who can very easily descend into the silly, but Nolan smartly builds a gritty, realistic world in which he drops these otherworldly characters and as a result is able to craft smart dramas that exist in a world that's extremely true to life despite featuring comic book characters. 
• The story: it's clear at this moment that this is a true trilogy with one long, overarching narrative.  Each film, while having a self-contained storyline, is also part of a greater whole, where previous events echo and shape current interactions and events.  This isn't a situation where things happened that are discussed but seem distant, the actions of the characters in prior films are felt and have a real presence in later films.  This is a trilogy with a beginning, middle and end, where each successive chapter builds and expands the story, or legend if you'd prefer, of the larger-than-life Batman.  The scale of this film is unbelievably epic and the stakes much higher than what passed before... a more than fitting end to one of the great stories of our time.

The bad: [note: there isn't very much]

• The opening half hour of the flick or so, while undoubtedly awesome (Bane's introductory scene is great), is rather confusing and sort of all over the place.  I understand that there was a lot of introductory things to get out of the way, but the film opens and you aren't quite sure what the hell is going on.
• It's a BIT too bleak.  Soul-crushingly so.  Now the Dark Knight was a bleak flick as well, and Batman Begins isn't exactly sunny, but this flick is just straight-up deathly serious and super dark.  I'm a pretty dark guy myself, but it was right on the verge of being too much.  3 hours of bleakness is a lot.
• The score, despite me loving the use of the "rise" chant, was a bit much.  It's grinding and intense and a little over the top. 
• I have the same problem I had with The Dark Knight re: henchmen.  Where, exactly, are these murderous thugs finding these obsessively loyal, competent henchmen?  Bane just kills his cronies left and right... why would anyone work for him?

Like I said, the bad is minor compared to what the film does right.  I just didn't want you guys to complain when I didn't drop a 10 spot on you. 



In all, it's dark, it's satisfying, it's epic, it's terrifically done, and if it's not as good as The Dark Knight, that's mainly because the storyline is SO much darker and we don't get the maniacal glee of the Joker for distraction, rather the obsessive destruction of Bane.  If it wasn't the ending we needed, it was certainly what we deserved.  Go see this movie.

9/10

2010: The Year in Film: "The Fighter" Review

Boxing movies have a special place in the American pantheon of film. There's something about the dedication, the training, the strength of will and the determination of the pugilist that makes boxing a perfect metaphor for so much of what defines us as a culture. "Irish" Micky Ward was a popular champion in the late 90's and early 2000s, a working class hero of sorts who spoke to many. This fllm purports to tell the story of a fighter whose once promising career derailed by misfortune, bad luck and bad advice, and ultimately was rediscovered through adversity to rise to the very top of his sport. While there are some inaccuracies and artistic liberties taken with actual events, the finished product is a compelling story of a family, time and place whose lessons of determination, redemption and triumph resonate loudly today - when so many places and families struggle with the very challenges facing Lowell, Mass and the Wards/Eklunds. This has been a passion project of Mark Wahlberg's (a native of the Boston area) for years, and has seen Darren Aronofsky come and go, Brad Pitt come and go, and the project pick up and die several times. In steps David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) and the insane method actor who is Christian Bale (you know damn well who he is), and they deliver one of the great sports movies of recent memory. Indeed, Sports Illustrated recently named "The Fighter" as "Sports Movie of the Decade", high praise indeed from the most respected sports publication around.

The year is 1993. Boxer/road crew worker and local semi-celebrity "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) is a boxer who's career is at a crossroads. After a promising start, he's lost his last few fights, and is facing a hand-picked opponent in an effort to turn his career around and avoid the "stepping stone" label. A native son of Lowell, Mass, once the birthplace of the American industrial revolution and now a post-industrial wasteland of drugs, petty crime and housing projects, Ward is managed by his overbearing and larger than life mother, Alice and trained by his half-brother, Dickie Eklund (Bale), who had a title fight against Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978 and has spent the last 15 years basking in the quasi-celebrity that resulted for all it's worth. Dickie, who's seen by his family as a legend, has spent his time wallowing in the depths and darkness of drug addiction instead of training his brother. Completely overshadowed by the insanity that is his family (he's the youngest of 9 kids, and one of only two boys), Ward is quiet and contemplative, resigned to his fate despite the often negative effect it may have on his career and livelihood. Things get worse before they get better, but Micky meets and falls in love with a local bartender and former athlete (a great Amy Adams) who, along with a new trainer and manager, help return the focus to boxing. Ultimately, this is a redemption tale. Redeeming a legacy, a career, a family and really, a life.

It's impossible to praise this movie without praising the performances. It's no secret that this blog is a HUGE Chris Bale fan, and he's never been better than he is as the charming, infuriating and rambunctious Dicky Eklund, a guy who dominates every room and has managed to completely recreate his own life and legacy through a web of delusions of grandeur. Bale will break your heart and ultimately bring you back from the brink, he's that good. He truly steals every single scene he's in, just as the real-life Dicky would have. Emaciated and squirrelly, Bale once again recreates himself physically to play a man who lost himself in the devastating web of drug addiction. Right behind Bale though is Amy Adams, who completely surprised me as the tough, determined, wise beyond her years Charlene, local sexpot and ultimate girlfriend of Micky. Adams believably brings to life a smart, fiery woman who impacts our protagonist greatly. The rest of the supporting cast is great, at times too believable as the lower-class cast of characters populating Lowell. Wahlberg pales next to Bale, but I'm pretty sure the real Micky Ward pales next to the dominating personality that is his brother Dicky. Wahlberg plays Ward with a quiet frustration, a man who feels trapped by his circumstances but who is too loyal to turn his back on his family.



This is a film that paints a picture of a time and place. Lowell, Mass in the mid to late 90's and a family who left their mark, both good and bad. This film is about boxing, sure, but it's about family, about post-industrial America, and ultimately, about redemption. Bale gives a truly unforgettable performance. There are flaws, mostly with the direction. 1.) It is impossible to tell what the time period is. Does the film cover 1 year? 10 years? Also, the boxing montage of Micky's comeback looked cheap. 2.) I take issue with the use of music. 4 or 5 times throughout the film a song plays nearly in its entirety, dominating a scene, and I don't feel it fits with the rest of the film. However, make no mistake, this is a great film. Easily the best sports movie since Cinderella Man, this is a story well worth telling that deserves to take its place among the great boxing movies.

8.7/10. Bale will win Best Supporting Oscar, I guarantee it.