2013 best picture nominee
Rating: 16/20 (Jen: 17/20)
Plot: A con man and his partner are busted and forced to work for an FBI agent who wants to make a name for himself and take down some mafia big wigs and shady elected officials.
This movie's a lot of fun with four leads going against the grain to play these larger-than-life characters. Bale hams it up with ridiculous hair and prop sunglasses that he can't keep his hands off. And a gut. The guy's a hot dog, not exactly nailing anybody who could be a real person here but nailing something. I like what he does with his posture most of all. Well, at least when he's not doing something with his sunglasses. Amy Adams's has a wavering English accent which is supposed to be a wavering accent. Wow, does she look good in this movie, always threatening to have a wardrobe malfunction right on my television screen, showing a lot of leg, allowing a butt double to step into the shadows for her. Jennifer Lawrence is the other babe in this, and I'm not sure if I liked her performance at all, but she and Adams share a kiss which means I have to say that I liked them both or put up with people asking if I'm a homosexual. Lawrence is almost too cute for the role, and I don't always buy her emotions. Gosh, I always really want to like her, but she's only just-OK here. Once again, the Academy Awards people seem to be enamored by her posterior more than anything else. The always-fetching Bradley Cooper also gets some fun hair and is best in scenes where his character is losing control. He shows off an ability to lose it, and although he's still good looking in this movie, it's a step or two away from the typical leading man roles he's had. Louis C.K. and Robert Deniro are also really good in smaller roles. The movie's a hyperbole, a loosely-told story based loosely on a true story, loosely. Everything's amplified--the period details, the character quirks, the stylized shots--and caricaturizes the time period and makes it seem like every single character is on some kind of drug. Surprisingly, there's not a mention of drugs in this movie that I remember. It's character driven, and the dynamics between the characters manage to be surprising, fun, and emotional, but the time and place is just as responsible for helping this thing sizzle. And it's got some sizzle. What I'm not sure it has is much depth. It sort of floats around, tells its story, and finishes but leaves you wondering what the whole point was. It just sort of feels empty, like a car running partially on fumes but mostly on the strength of people pushing it down the road. However, since those people pushing it seem to be having so much fun, it's hard not to like this movie. It's infectious and vibrant, and I guess that's enough. This is something I would watch again, but I'm really not sure I would like it as much. Or maybe I would. I do seem to like movies featuring con men. And the experience watching this for the first time kind of reminds me of when I first saw The Big Lebowski, one of my favorite movies which, I'm almost ashamed to admit, was not one of my favorite movies after I watched it the first time.
My favorite thing about this entire movie is all the ties.
1 comment:
Bale seems to be doing a DeNiro impersonation for most of the film, which was actually quite funny when DeNiro appears. Adams is good but very distracting and Lawrence was just grating. I guess my biggest issue is that we are expected to pull for Bale, even though he is a creep that stole from people and cheated on his family. It's an entertaining movie, but not as great as everyone made it out to be. A 16.
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