American Hustle
Posted by Itheliving 11 years, 10 months ago to Movies
American Hustle / Rated R for language, sex, nudity, lies and really bad wigs.
AH is the highly touted to win lots of Oscar nominations film about conmen and conwomen. Not a pro among them. The cast and performances are good. Really good. The wigs they are forced to wear are bad. Really bad. Christian Bale and Jeremy Renner sport rugs that make them look like Francis the Talking Mule prepping for the High School prom. The hair is so distracting that I confess to missing a lot of the performances because I couldn’t take my eyes off the hair. How bad is the hair? It sticks out like the Alien the moment it jumped out of the hapless victims mid section in Alien (1979). Not that the hair ruins the movie is just commands all of your attention in any scene with CB or JR.
AH is an attempt to copy the Academy Award winning film The Sting (1973) and make it happen but without the fun, substituting grit, unlikable characters and the reality of the underbelly of American life. They did manage to skip the fun. The 138 minute film is not a joy to watch despite the comedic moments. The Golden Globes award nominations include this film it its comedy or musical category. It manages to slip past being uncomfortable by involving children in the mix. Other than show that all the thieving and lying has good intentioned people doing it because they have children and support them falls flat. It appears most of the actual profit goes on smoking, drinking, drugs and personal desires.
AH is well made if way to long. The acting jobs by the stellar cast, which is what they promote the most, are worth seeing if you don’t mind the depressing subject matter and people you will come to believe would be best served if flushed down a toilet.
The plot concerns how Christian Bale and Amy Adams get together to make a living through scams and hustling. They seem to be doing a good job until they get mixed up in a deal that turns out to be more than they can handle. The FBI gets involved and politicians with their hands out. Robert De Niro turns up as a mafia figure and mostly scowls and looks scary. Nobody does this better than he does. Since the films takes place in the late 70’s a lot of great songs from Ellington, Basie and others is heard. Even veteran singer Jack Jones turns up in a small cameo as a singer. Even though the folks in the film are portrayed as real crooks they at least demonstrate an ongoing discrimination for good music.
The Oscar’s make like this one a lot. You might not. I thought it was above average but, like this review, way to long and serious.
Rated 3.0 out of 4.0 reasons not to get taken. There is always The Sting on DVD and BluRay.
AH is the highly touted to win lots of Oscar nominations film about conmen and conwomen. Not a pro among them. The cast and performances are good. Really good. The wigs they are forced to wear are bad. Really bad. Christian Bale and Jeremy Renner sport rugs that make them look like Francis the Talking Mule prepping for the High School prom. The hair is so distracting that I confess to missing a lot of the performances because I couldn’t take my eyes off the hair. How bad is the hair? It sticks out like the Alien the moment it jumped out of the hapless victims mid section in Alien (1979). Not that the hair ruins the movie is just commands all of your attention in any scene with CB or JR.
AH is an attempt to copy the Academy Award winning film The Sting (1973) and make it happen but without the fun, substituting grit, unlikable characters and the reality of the underbelly of American life. They did manage to skip the fun. The 138 minute film is not a joy to watch despite the comedic moments. The Golden Globes award nominations include this film it its comedy or musical category. It manages to slip past being uncomfortable by involving children in the mix. Other than show that all the thieving and lying has good intentioned people doing it because they have children and support them falls flat. It appears most of the actual profit goes on smoking, drinking, drugs and personal desires.
AH is well made if way to long. The acting jobs by the stellar cast, which is what they promote the most, are worth seeing if you don’t mind the depressing subject matter and people you will come to believe would be best served if flushed down a toilet.
The plot concerns how Christian Bale and Amy Adams get together to make a living through scams and hustling. They seem to be doing a good job until they get mixed up in a deal that turns out to be more than they can handle. The FBI gets involved and politicians with their hands out. Robert De Niro turns up as a mafia figure and mostly scowls and looks scary. Nobody does this better than he does. Since the films takes place in the late 70’s a lot of great songs from Ellington, Basie and others is heard. Even veteran singer Jack Jones turns up in a small cameo as a singer. Even though the folks in the film are portrayed as real crooks they at least demonstrate an ongoing discrimination for good music.
The Oscar’s make like this one a lot. You might not. I thought it was above average but, like this review, way to long and serious.
Rated 3.0 out of 4.0 reasons not to get taken. There is always The Sting on DVD and BluRay.
