AMERICAN HUSTLE Review

 

 

AMERICAN HUSTLE

 

There really should be a special Golden "Globes" award for Amy Adams cleavage in this movie (see pic below).

I loved this film. There only a couple of minor nits I would pick in terms of directoral choices that didn't work for me, but it is just so captivating and interesting. The actors all dig down deep and give honest and deep characterizations. And while I joke about Amy Adams' lustrously freely flopping cleavage, she was seriously acting her ass off in this movie.

I was just a kid during the ABSCAM sting operation by the FBI in the late 70s (where they videotaped public officials accepting bribes from a fictitious Arab Sheik), so I really didn't know any of the details. Even though this film is fictional with composites and original characters filling in for most of the players, the broad strokes of the operation are laid out clearly.

This is a movie where there are no heroes or villains. Everyone has their flaws but also their charms. Really, when you think about it, from the opening sequence to the end what AMERICAN HUSTLE is about is exploring our human tendency to concoct and present false personas to the world around us and how we justify doing it. Not a single person involved in this operation is being true to others or to themselves. They are all either manipulating others or being manipulated (or both) and what is truth becomes ever more malleable as they get deeper and deeper into it.

It is not an easy trick to pull off a 70s-era piece like this where each character is a caricature but because of the skilled depth of the acting, they come off as real and believable -- people you become invested in. The humor of the movie is mostly centered around the obviously over-the-top 70s-era clothing and hairstyles, which given the context of this film also fits with the theme of exploring the facades that people project to the world (and even to themselves).

Oh, I almost forgot to give a special shout-out to Jeremy Renner for his performance as Camden, NJ mayor "Carmine Polito." Trust me, you will love him. I almost wish he were real.

★★★★ out of ★★★★★

 

HER Review

An incredibly thought-provoking and emotional film.  This is true science-fiction using the concept of the advent of the Artificially Intelligent Operating System in a near-future world as a storytelling device to speak to the human condition as it is right now.  This is a true zeitgeist film
The story, and Joachim Phoenix's performance especially, delve deeply into the heartache and emotional frustration of the introverted intuitive in a world that just doesn't much accommodate or often recognize the value in.  Scarlett Johansson, likewise, delivers a seductively charming voice-only performance as "Samantha" the Operating System that mutually falls in love with Phoenix's "Theodore".

What was so interesting to me to watch and experience (I felt a lot of kinship--for good or bad--with Theodore) was how when Samantha first wakes up, the connection between the 2 is eerily instant.  As the film progresses, we see the two of them go through all the phases of relationship but also we see them growing emotionally and spiritually.  At the start he is farther along and is drawing her along with him but by the end she outpaces his self-actualization (because she is not bound by time and space and past and physicality) and she becomes the catalyst for his own painful, but necessary growth. 

While this all plays out, the metaphor for modern-day online relationships is very clear.  The near-instant intimacy and 24-hour immediacy and availability of those we connect with through the virtual world is mirrored in the very real love and relationship between Theodore and Samantha.  However, just as most virtual intimacies will stay virtual, Theodore and Samantha must always be that way without even the faint hope of eventually being together in the physical world.

As they interact and deepen their bonding and dependency upon each other, the filmmaker wisely brings home the difference between the purity of the virtual only relationship by letting us see Theodore interacting with his ex-wife and finally signing those divorce papers he's been avoiding for over a year.

The film does not ever treat Theodore and Samantha's relationship (nor do his close friends) as anything less than real, but it demonstrates clearly the wider societal deteriorations that are happening as people disappear more and more into their own heads by way of the virtual world.
It's a sobering movie.  It should give us all cause for reflection and some self-evaluation.  One of the profound visual moments for me was a scene where Theodore is walking through a crowded area outside and he's talking to Samantha as if she is walking right there with him.  And as he's doing this, you notice that everyone around him is doing the exact same thing...but absolutely nobody is talking to anyone who is actually there.

There's another moment where they are in a serious discussion and he keeps asking her whether she's talking to anyone else at the same time.  Any of us in relationships who have been carrying on a conversation with someone next to us while texting a conversation with one or more other people, knows the frustration the other person expresses oftentimes at that sense that he or she is not being given the respect of attention.  Again, a sobering moment for all of us, I'm sure.

The deepest theme of the movie is just simply about expanding our view of love and to not box it into our own, or society's, preconceived notions.  We all would do well to recognize that each and every one of us have varying distinctions of what we understand love to mean and to be to us and it is not, and should not, be something anyone else should dictate.

I really liked the line from Amy Adams' character who said to Theodore that "falling in love is societally approved insanity."

Quite true.

★★★★1/2

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MAN OF STEEL REVIEW ★★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★★

MAN OF STEEL

Release Date: June 15, 2013
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne
Website: http://manofsteel.warnerbros.com/

Official Synopsis: A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
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I need to get this sentence out of the way at the start because I'm going to start analyzing some aspects of this film that may come off as negative but they aren't really intended like that so...here goes:

MAN OF STEEL is a successful reboot and reenergizing of the very dead SUPERMAN film franchise.

I was hooked from the start of the film right through the end primarily because of 2 factors: (1) it is a fantastically imaginative science-fiction action film and (2) Henry Cavill completely captures the essence of the introspective messiah archetype that they remake Superman into for this film and for the modern era.

I mentioned it to some friends online immediately after viewing the film that this really is not a super-hero movie.  This is a science-fiction movie first and foremost.  It is also a character study of Clark Kent more than Superman — yes, for purposes of my discussion here I will separate the two.  To appreciate this film you really need to check all your preconceptions at the door and stop trying to impose your idea of who and what Superman is.  This is not the social-activist arrogant brute that appeared in 1938 with no real respect for life.  Neither is this the all-powerful demigod of impossible perfection he evolved into.  This is not the smiling get-lost-cats-out-of-trees and wink at the camera Christopher Reeve version.  This is not the Clark from SMALLVILLE running around in a world surrounded by secret super-heroes and monsters.   Those are super-heroes grounded in the commonly expected tropes of super-hero stories.  This movie is more about Earth and humanity's first known encounter with extraterrestrial aliens and Clark Kent/Kal-El is the set of eyes through which this story unfolds.

Russell Crowe as Jor-El on Krypton

The movie opens on the planet Krypton, but it is not the sterile ice planet of the original SUPERMAN film.  This Krypton is full of life and energy.  There are exotic animals in a truly alien world full of strange politics, conflicts, and a science way beyond our understanding.  This Krypton is something like one might imagine Flash Gordon's planet Mongo to be envisioned through modern cgi artists.  The entire sequence clearly set the tone for the movie.  This is not THE AVENGERS or IRON MAN with a predictable balance of action and humor and pathos.  This movie is going to be serious and downright grim at times.  And it stays true to its promise.

This is not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned.

Henry Cavill as Clark Kent

Since this movie is not about how to get a guy into a gaudy skin-tight suit so that he can fight criminals, it can rightly focus on what it really is about.  This movie is about Clark's quest to discover who he is and why he is.  The messianic metaphor is even played out explicitly at one point when faced with the same decision Jesus had to make to allow himself to be arrested.  Clark contemplates his choices inside a church with a stained glass image of Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemene — yes, the same moment where Jesus prayed for God to take this "cup away" from him but ultimately made the choice to see the plan through and submitted to his purpose as the willing sin sacrifice for the world.

Henry Cavill as Superman

Clark is faced with a similar choice to make and this is what the film is all about.  His purpose is not thrust upon him or outside of his control.  The running theme of the film is that our purpose in life is determined by our choices.  We determine our purpose.  And Clark realizes his innate moral character is what will drive his life and create his purpose—and this moral character is not part of his genetic code.  His moral character is what was instilled in him by his Earthly father.  His genetic code gives him the power to fulfill his purpose.  There are plenty of flashbacks to his years growing up as the adopted child of Jonathan and Martha Kent.  Kevin Costner plays Jonathan and he is relentlessly gloomy.  I honestly did not like him and felt he had a martyr complex himself that was actually more damaging to Clark and probably contributed to his decade-plus wandering aimlessly around the world in search of himself.  I believe in this interpretation, Jonathan's position in Clark's moral development was more of imposing a sense of guilt upon him than anything else.  It was Diane Lane's Martha that brought the love and balance that strengthens Clark and gives him the character to discover and embrace his purpose once he identifies it.

Henry Cavill as Superman

The heart and soul of the film itself is the deep-seated integrity and inherent goodness in Clark and Henry Cavill really pours himself into the part.  Not only does he look perfect for the part, but his deep, deep thoughtful expressions and tender smile really make Superman into someone who feels real and unthreatening.  And let me tell you, when you have an alien on your doorstep with the power to lay waste to your entire planet with his bare hands....you want to feel that he is completely trustworthy and safe.  Cavill accomplishes this while maintaining an aura of strength and masculine virility I don't believe I've really seen in a super-hero movie.  Fantastic casting.  His onscreen chemistry with Amy Adams as Lois Lane is very strong as well.  Lois in this film is played very smart, feisty, and an integral part of Clark's transition into mankind's modern-day savior.

For me, this is what the movie is all about.  However, I know others want to know about things like General Zod (Michael Shannon) and the action sequences and other aspects.  So, I'm going to touch on those.  Let me start with the minor things and then build to the more important and then I'll address some of the criticisms I might have with some aspects.

Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Amy Adams as Lois Lane

In a modern reboot like this they clearly did not want to feel beholden to what's gone before but still retain the familiar check-off boxes that need to be in a Superman story.  In this case, there's the Daily Planet newspaper where Lois Lane works.  The editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet is Perry White and they cast Laurence Fishburne in the role.  Once again, like everything else in this movie he does not go for laughs or anything over the top. He plays it straight and serious, and as a result, he's kind of flat and boring.  But Fishburne is a charismatic actor with a great voice and a sense of gravitas so placing him in that position works.  I don't think it's a big deal but when he was cast there was a bit of publicity over the fact that they race-changed Perry from an old white guy to an old black guy.  Personally, I don't just think it isn't a big deal I actually think it is completely irrelevant.  They also changed Jimmy Olsen into Jenny Olsen.  I'm okay with that.  I mean seriously, of what value is Jimmy Olsen to a Superman film franchise anyway.  More power to them to amp up the estrogen level of his supporting cast.  My favorite surprise in casting was Michael Kelly as sportswriter Steve Lombard.  Most people do not know this but in the Superman comic books back during the 1970s and on into the 1980s, Clark Kent graduated up from being a newspaper reporter to being a television news anchor (yes, ignore the absurdity of Superman having to be available for broadcast every day at 6:00 pm for a half-hour). During this period of time they added Steve Lombard to the supporting cast as a dunder-headed ex-jock sports anchor who spent his time picking on Clark like a high school bully and Clark secretly using his super-powers to regularly make a fool out of Steve.  It's not a high-point for the comics, but I actually harbor a bit of fondness for that period of time because that was my childhood and so that was the Superman I grew up reading about.  Seeing a "Steve Lombard" on the big screen made me smile.

Russell Crowe as Jor-El

Antje Traue as Faora

The primary external conflict in this film is between General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Superman.  There is a serious attempt to make Zod into a much more personal enemy than has ever happened before.  The physical battles between the two characters are very impressive and well worth the price of 3D if you're into that sort of stuff.  I was more drawn to the very personal conflict established on Krypton between Zod and Superman's birth-father Jor-El (Russell Crowe) that carries over into an intense and brutal hatred of Superman as Jor-El's son and only hope of ever restoring the glory of the Kryptonian race.  Zod's right-hand man is actually a female Kryptonian criminal named Faora.  She is an old character from the comics making her film debut like Steve Lombard.  She is scary dangerous.  Zod would be more dangerous if he didn't sound like his upper denture plate was poorly fitted.  But I guess with Krypton exploding and everything, he didn't have a chance to get back with his dentist to get it adjusted.

Michael Shannon as Zod

I think the film was structured very well for telling this story.  It really did bring a new perspective and approach to the character that will hopefully clear out everyone's preconceptions a bit and open the door for a successful new franchise.  There's a bit of a lull in the 2 1/2 hours between Clark's appearance on Earth and the appearance of Zod where the pacing gets a bit stilted.  And Kevin Costner is so freaking depressing I couldn't wait for him to die.  But other than that, I thought the movie was very good.  It wasn't great.  Picking up the pace a bit and adding a sense of humor to the proceedings would've pushed it to great.  The Marvel Studios movies all have a strong sense of fun and humor to them and have just embraced the trappings of a world full of super-heroes.  This film takes the subject seriously and recognizes that this is more than a super-hero movie.  MAN OF STEEL is about crafting a myth for the modern day and it succeeds at established the first of the demigods pushed to his limits.  Oh yeah, that reminds me of another aspect of this interpretation of Superman that I really enjoyed.  He has to work at it.  His strength and even his flying is a product of his will and determination — a reflection of the strength of character and goodness within him.

Yeah.  I really enjoyed MAN OF STEEL, wish it had included more humor and fun, but I will be back to see it again probably this weekend or next week.

I give it ★★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★★

(I know it's shallow but I would've given it ★★★★ but I'm punishing the filmmakers in my own immature way for not buying Michael Shannon better dentures so he could make his "s" sounds without making a distracting "sh" sound.)