Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Do the Hustle
Did I mention that I finally saw American Hustle? I actually know that I didn't mention it, because I looked back over my posts since I did, but the rhetorical question just seems like a truly snappy way to start a post. I'm an artist, people. And so, by way of transition, is David O. Russell, who has put together a pretty intriguing little picture here. I've always been interested in the Abscam sting, although not interested enough to do much more than google it, and this was a pretty entertaining fictionalization. And the acting was good. I'm not sure about Academy Award good, but it was good. I've always found Amy Adams to be perfectly pleasant but not particularly exciting; here I felt like she really carried the movie in a lot of ways. And Bradley Cooper usually kind of bugs me, but here I thought his innate annoyingness really worked for the character he was playing. Christian Bale I've never really had any problems with, aside from the occasional episodes of him screaming at people, and this was no exception. Jennifer Lawrence I of course love, but I didn't really even feel like she was in the movie that much. Couldn't they have added some scenes where she, like, goes to the zoo or something? Now that would be compelling filmmaking.
I did think it was a bit long. I tend to think everything is a bit long, though. Except for life. That's still way too short and it still has a ridiculous ending.
Did I mention that I finally saw American Hustle? I actually know that I didn't mention it, because I looked back over my posts since I did, but the rhetorical question just seems like a truly snappy way to start a post. I'm an artist, people. And so, by way of transition, is David O. Russell, who has put together a pretty intriguing little picture here. I've always been interested in the Abscam sting, although not interested enough to do much more than google it, and this was a pretty entertaining fictionalization. And the acting was good. I'm not sure about Academy Award good, but it was good. I've always found Amy Adams to be perfectly pleasant but not particularly exciting; here I felt like she really carried the movie in a lot of ways. And Bradley Cooper usually kind of bugs me, but here I thought his innate annoyingness really worked for the character he was playing. Christian Bale I've never really had any problems with, aside from the occasional episodes of him screaming at people, and this was no exception. Jennifer Lawrence I of course love, but I didn't really even feel like she was in the movie that much. Couldn't they have added some scenes where she, like, goes to the zoo or something? Now that would be compelling filmmaking.
I did think it was a bit long. I tend to think everything is a bit long, though. Except for life. That's still way too short and it still has a ridiculous ending.
