I have mixed feelings about "American Hustle". The acting is terrific, and I don't begrudge Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence the Golden Globe wins. But frankly, as I was watching, it seemed long, boring and convoluted. I somehow was not interested in the plot. They lost me. I didn't think about it afterward much either. Russell just goes a little bit too far in some scenes, and the absurdity sets in. The scene with Bradley Cooper's character and his mother and girl friend, not to mention the hair curlers, is off putting. It doesn't work. That happened in "Silver Linings Playbook" as well, and "The Fighter". People are clowns, and then you disengage not just from that character, but in a subtle sense, the whole movie.
I thought both Adams and Lawrence developed complete, believable characters, and you end up rooting for them, no matter what their flaws. Bale's character was also believable, and, though he is a crook, you understand him and feel forgiving. Cooper's character is weakest, because he seems too dumb for his position, and he somehow doesn't belong in the same movie with the others. Cameos are usually terrible, in my opinion, and Robert de Niro's detracts from the story.
I'm thinking the story is weak, and great actors strengthened a weak script. It doesn't need to be seen on the big screen, and it is not an Oscar film, even if it has a great central idea, made manifest for us dumb viewers by the film title. These are Americans, yes, but it could be India or Japan or any other country. Give me a break.
Like "Blue Jasmine", which has nothing going for it but Cate Blanchett, the power of this film comes from Adams and Lawrence, and their multidimensional characters. And frankly, Adams has a more complex role than Blanchett, and Lawrence does the Jasmine character better and more succinctly. At this point, Amy Adams, in my opinion, deserves best actress. She's less showy, without the mannerisms of Blanchett, and she just breaks your heart fairly and honestly.
No comments:
Post a Comment