American Hustle (R)
15/03/14 22:54 Filed in: 2013
Starring: Christian Bale
December 2013
This review was originally tweeted in Real-time from the back row of a movie theater and appears @BackRoweReviews. Though efforts were made to tease rather than ruin this movie’s memorable lines and moments, some spoilers may exist in the following evaluation. The original tweets appear in black, while follow-up comments appear in red. For concerns over objectionable content, please first refer to one of the many parental movie guide websites. All ratings are based on a four star system. Happy reading!
How to do a comb over 101.
Apparently there’s an art to sliding a suitcase.
An art Cooper hasn’t mastered.
“We’re all conning ourselves.” Interesting philosophy.
Two lunches. Trouble brewing?
Four busts and they skate.
The new “science oven” doesn’t like metal.
Palpable antipathy between Adams and Lawrence. The opposite of a meet-cute. Classic!
The new player from Florida has a familiar bearing.
Something tells me you don’t wanna’ mess with this guy.
The ongoing ice fishing story is hilarious.
Cooper has listening problems…he’s always jumping to conclusions.
It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Rough scene in Renner’s house.
Final analysis: a top-notch heist yarn with top shelf performances and peerless direction by Russell.
A wholly immersive film that cleverly employs filming techniques from the period it showcases.
Production values, especially costumes and hair styles, are staggeringly authentic.
Unique employment of the internal monologue from multiple characters.
And sometimes characters switch from talking (thinking) about themselves to talking about a different character.
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars. Should be a frontrunner for Oscar’s top prize.
Russell, Bale and Lawrence should be strong contenders as well. However, there’s an intangible missing ingredient here. Each aspect of the production is superb, but some ineffable quality eludes the proceedings. In the end, this is a handsomely mounted, highly styled heist film that has everything but heart. The absence of that crucial element might be its Achilles heel come awards season.