Let’s take a look at the films up for Best Picture Oscar, shall we? Let’s out which of the nine films really is the best, which one if the most worthy of your praise, and which one will probably win the statue come March. Those three things may not be the same thing.
David O. Russell’s American Hustle may perhaps be considered the third film in the director’s unofficial trilogy of genre experiments. Russell started his career with somewhat oblique and definitely stylish comedies like Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster, and exploded in earnest with his overrated wartime drama Three Kings (which is far shoddier and more meaninglessly stylized than you even remember). He took a playful detour into near-absurdism with his I Heart Huckabees, which is appealing in a cult way – it’s not often that we get a film as wonderfully weird.
Ever since The Fighter, however, Russell seems to have finally hit his stride, taking familiar – even clichéd – genres and populating them with his now-familiar brand of broad-yet-believable white trash and/or amusingly criminal characters. He then casts talented actors, squeezes great performances from them, and, in so doing, elevates the genre into something natural and fun. The Fighter was a sports movie through-and-through. Silver Linings Playbook was a romantic comedy that banked on dance movie clichés and mutual healing tropes lifted from flicks like As Good as it Gets. And now the joyously slippery American Hustle applies the same formula to con artist movies, complete with a long-con, a late movie double-cross, and characters whose honesty you can never be entirely too sure of. Of the “new Russell†era, I would say American Hustle is the best.
American Hustle is a firecracker of a movie. Clipped, fiery, and chatty, it’s the kind of film that thrills you through mere dialogue and character. The performances are so strong, so idiosyncratic, so carefully modulated, you find yourself falling in love with people who are, essentially, liars, idiots, ditzes, and scumbags. The people are so appealing and the character study so rich, in fact, that you forgive the characters their many transgressions just as much as you forgive Russell for assembling what is – on paper at least – a pretty basic, and oftentimes predictable plot.
To do my critical due diligence, the plot is thus: Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a con man in 1970s Noo Joisey who falls in with Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) a would-be British con woman. The two of them, in their gleeful malfeasance, are apprehended by an ambitious Fed (Bradley Cooper), who forces them to engage in a con to expose greater malfeasance in government (represented by Jeremy Renner as the mayor of Camden, NJ). Irving is married to (but does not love or live with) a pretty blonde idiot named Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), who does nothing but browbeat him and occasionally and accidentally set her house on fire. Charm ensues.
All of the lead actors (with the exception of Jeremy Renner) have been nominated for Academy Awards this year, and, frankly, they all deserve it. Christian Bale should perhaps win for playing Irving, a man with the most nightmarish leisure suits and comb-over this side of an actual 1970s discotheque, as he makes this slimy, slimy character into an amusingly pathetic sad sack that, well, you might actually consider going to bed with. I’m also fairly positive that Lawrence will indeed win, as Rosalyn is the kind of emotionally complex simpleton that takes a great talent to nail. Adams is fun as The Woman with the Intermittent Accent, although I think she’s being nominated more for her awesome ’70s hair and revealing dresses than anything.
What are American Hustle’s chances for winning Best Picture? I’d say pretty good. It’s not the front-runner by any means, but it has the biggest head of steam, in terms of audience enthusiasm, compared to any of the other movies. It’s also the most fun of the Best Picture nominees, and is far easier to watch than the gorgeous torture-fest of 12 Years a Slave, or the steely struggles of Captain Phillips.
Odds to win: 5:1.
Thanks for your short article. I would also like to say that the health insurance agent also works best for the benefit of the coordinators of any group insurance policy. The health insurance broker is given a listing of benefits needed by anyone or a group coordinator. What any broker may is look for individuals as well as coordinators which in turn best match up those wants. Then he reveals his tips and if each party agree, the particular broker formulates an agreement between the two parties.
You can certainly see your enthusiasm within the paintings you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. All the time follow your heart.
That is the correct weblog for anybody who wants to find out about this topic. You notice a lot its virtually exhausting to argue with you (not that I really would need…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Nice stuff, just great!
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my site thus i came to “return the favor”.I’m attempting to find things to improve my website!I suppose its ok to use a few of your ideas!!
One other thing I would like to talk about is that instead of trying to suit all your online degree training on days that you complete work (considering that people are drained when they come home), try to receive most of your instructional classes on the saturdays and sundays and only one or two courses in weekdays, even if it means taking some time away from your weekend break. This is fantastic because on the saturdays and sundays, you will be more rested plus concentrated with school work. Thanks alot : ) for the different ideas I have realized from your web site.
Thanks for the a new challenge you have uncovered in your short article. One thing I would really like to comment on is that FSBO relationships are built over time. By introducing yourself to owners the first weekend their FSBO is usually announced, ahead of the masses start out calling on Wednesday, you build a good network. By mailing them instruments, educational products, free reports, and forms, you become an ally. By using a personal affinity for them as well as their scenario, you build a solid connection that, oftentimes, pays off once the owners decide to go with a representative they know as well as trust — preferably you.
I really enjoyed watching American Hustle. It lacked some action and intensity in the beginning, but after the first 30 minutes I started falling for the characters. My favourite one was Rosalyn, “the blonde idiot” as you put it 🙂 David O. Russell is a decent director, but I have to say, I liked his Silver Lining Playbook more. It was a better topic for a movie, it was funnier, it was better. Nevertheless, American Hustle touched my heart in a specific way. I felt truly sorry for Christian Bale to have that wig on his head 🙂
But I think that we can tell that Jennifer Lawrence is Russell’s favourite actress, and Bradley Cooper probably too. Maybe we’ll see them together again, in the next Russell’s project 🙂
And I was a little bit sorry that it didn’t win any Academy award, but 12 Years A Slave was very powerful movie,after all..:)
I enjoyed the film for its characters, but this is by no means an Oscar nomination worthy film; just not enough story. I dont see it winning by any stretch, it’s between 12 Years and Gravity.
Despite some great acting, this movie was fairly boring. It was interesting to see once on a lazy Sunday, but I’ll never watch it again.
I did love the ongoing ice-fishing story.
I really don’t get the acclaim this movie has received. It was entertaining, but not as funny as I’d like and not as clever for a con movie as I’d like. The acting though was good despite the story not being completely evident.
I walked out of this film stunned by how far you can go on surface and character work. I really loved the performances while hating the plot. Classic Oscar bait. I’d rather this win than most of the other nominees.
I enjoyed this movie, but found it a bit overrated. The first half hour or so just drags, with nothing but pointless exposition which failed to make me sympathize with any of the characters. Once it hit its stride, though, it was a lot of fun. As for the performances, I agree that Bale deserves a win. I love Jennifer Lawrence, especially when she’s playing a whacko, but I just didn’t buy her here. Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams were fine, but not really award-worthy.
I don’t get it. My wife and I love movies, walked out of this one thinking “WTH?” Boring, predictable, not at all an acclaim-worthy movie. I’m just doomed to be in the dark about this turkey, I guess.