JUST DOIN' THE "AMERICAN HUSTLE" TO SURVIVE...

“I don’t know what all the fuss is about” complained Mom as I talked to her on the phone the other day. “It’s just another heist movie isn’t it? I got bored, quite frankly, I didn’t even finish it.” I tutted at that, I highly disapprove of not finishing films. I have done it only two or three times in my life, usually when I felt a migraine coming on. Having recently watched American Hustle, I feel the team putting the film together was well aware that there are a lot of heist films out there. It’s a tricky one really, because heist films have a legitimate fan base for their own sake. But if you want to step above and beyond that fan base you need to do something different.       Something different that, at the same time, is not going to change the basic structure so much that it doesn’t alienate the fan base. American Hustle has actually negotiated that fine line very successfully – hence the Oscar nomination. There are those who, like Mom, are completely sick of heist movies but well… You get those in every genre…

Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale)  has a nice life all in all. He has a beautiful wife (Jennifer Lawrence) with whom he “fights and f.cks” but ultimately cannot seem to separate from; he has a nice little business running laundrettes with some art dealing on the side… Oh and he’s got a second little side line as a con artist, taking from the rich and desperate and giving to himself. Ok himself and his gorgeous business partner and lover Sydney (Amy Addams). So there he is, rolling along, making a “decent” living when… SLAM. The FBI. He is “nailed” by one of the FBI’s brightest, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). Now, every hustler knows that everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY has a weakness. The secret to survival lies in finding and abusing it. Richie is over-ambitious. What starts off with a simple trade off with Irving and Sydney – You get me a couple of big fish and I’ll make your charges go away – spirals slowly and steadily out of control as Richie forever sees opportunities to get bigger fish… Irving tries to warn him, not unsubtly, that he is heading into very murky waters but Richie remains stubbornly blinded by future glory… The question is, how far is he prepared to chase these dreams for and how far will he end up falling from?

Now, in one sense this is a common or garden heist film. I can, in that sense, see why Mom got so bored of it. But then, let us not dwell on the similarities. We have already covered that, the movie HAD to do it. The fans would get bored. Let’s concentrate on the stuff the movie did differently. Because, let’s be fair to the movie, it has done a substantial amount.

Now, first up, our hero.  You guys know how much of a Leo DiCaprio fan I am right? Right. I have to begrudgingly admit that although Leo is the main guy I support this year… Well… I won’t be that upset of Christian Bale gets it. I may even be rooting for him a tiny bit. Because as the heroes of heist movies go, Irving is quite a character. First of all, no Ocean’s 11 style smooth, handsome hero here. Irving is overweight and has a “killer” comb-over that gets a good few pages of dialogue all to itself. He has a beautiful blonde “dolly bird” wife sure. But what is different is, he has a COMPLICATED relationship with her. It’s a love-hate relationship, she’s depressed, is she an adequate mother? These are matters that ACTUALLY preoccupy us. We get to really know our characters in this film, as opposed to just reverting to stock characters and using all our previous knowledge to just assume what they’re like and move on. I mean then there’s Sydney. Her relationship with all the characters involved. You literally never know where she’s going to turn next, I mean you do, but the story is so cleverly designed that even a cynic like me had her misgivings.

And while we’re on the subject of characters, let’s have a word or two about Richie DiMaso. There are two types of possible cop in these movies. Ye can have the conscientious “good cop”, the hard-working, beetling antithesis to our “wise guy” heroes, like the police officers in The Wolf of Wall Street. These guys ultimately either win the day a la Wall Street or our heroes run rings round them, kinda like a Road Runner cartoon. Or, we are made to “hate” the cop so that we love the villain all the more – and ultimately the villain usually gets away. Richie… Is neither!  I mean ok, he is a sub-genre of the second variety. Ultimately he does get on our nerves. He is that over-ambitious type in the office who thinks, after taking two successful steps he is basically the best there is. Better than everyone. He has it coming to him a mile away and you know what, you kinda enjoy the smugness being wiped off his face. But at the same time… I’ll let you discover it for yourself but he has a bit of tough life. He is a bit of a “loser” in movie terms (and God knows I hate that term in real life but I’m trying to make a point here) but… Eh, he’s grey. He’s not black or white. Which makes this movie so great.

American Hustle is a fun, solid mix of something old and something new. It very successfully take a genre where it’s generally “goodies vs baddies” and made it… Well made it closer to real life. All the characters across the board have very real personalities and original personal tales. No one is a “stock” character. There is a lot of grey and not much in the way of black and white. I mean yes, this has meant giving up on originality in other areas sometimes but, like we said at the beginning, we can’t afford to lose the fans now, can we? J Soo yeah. I guess I’m ok with it getting a pat on the head. I’m not “outraged” about the nominations. I’ll have something to say if it actually gets all ten Oscars® it is nominated for but for that, dear ones, we have to wait for next week… 

FAMILIAL LOVE - THOUGH NOT QUITE AS YOU KNOW IT : "WINTER’S BONE"

As we all know probably far too well, families are complicated things. Sometimes all goes well, things are smooth and your family is your sanctuary from the big bad world outside. If things don’t quite go according to plan, you have each other to cling to. Other times, however, things are not so rosy or smooth. And the thing that upsets our lives the most is the family itself – bits of it if not the whole thing.

This is something 17 year old Ree (Jenniffer Lawrence) knows only too well. Her father is part of the local drug trade and therefore often “out of the picture” for one reason or another. Her mother is depressed and withdrawn. All Ree’s younger siblings have to depend on is their older sister who is a mother to all of them – including her own mother – living a very tough life in a poor, mountainous town. Their peaceful yet precarious existence will, however, be shattered by a visit from the local sheriff. In his latest brush with the law, Ree’s father has put their house up as collateral. This means that if he doesn’t turn up for his trial in a week’s time, the family will lose the house. And true to form, Ree’s father is nowhere to be found. So, to save her family, Ree sets out on a route that will bring her face to face with shady characters and members of her own family who tell her to just stay out of it. Staying out of it, however, is definitely not an option. Whether Ree will like the truth she finally uncovers however, is a different matter altogether.

First of all, I love the slightly gritty and tough take this film has on the concept of family. There are many rather beautiful examples of families rallying together in the face of danger, the self-sacrificing, protective “parent” figure and all that. The problem with that is that the films do have a slight “penchant” towards the saccharine. Not this one. Oh no. Ree is very, very real. Her affection for her siblings is more the “tough love” kind and she shows her love and dedication for her family not with frills, but by moving Heaven and Earth, putting herself in genuine danger, just to secure a home for her loved ones. Actions, after all, do speak louder than words. And in that sense, Ree is positively screaming.

The film is technically brilliant too. First of all, as you know Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscar® winning character Tiffany annoyed me. Quite a bit. I love Ree. And it’s a credit to Lawrence that she is equally brilliant at portraying both. I mean, I guess I’m not saying she was bad as Tiffany, I’m just saying I enjoyed this a lot more. Imdb reliably informs me that this is only director Debra Granick’s second feature film. First of all, kudos to the fact that she has literally whipped the floor with her opposition in every festival and awards ceremony she was a part of. It always makes me happy to see strong female directors, as you may have noticed. I really look forward to seeing more of her stuff!

OF TELEVISION, REALITY AND OTHER LIFE AND DEATH MATTERS : "THE HUNGER GAMES"

Now I had my misgivings about this film, I really did. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was always sure it would be at least moderately good. Hollywood has perfected this style of film over the years. Emotional ties, importance of family, loyalty etc., a beautiful yet approachable heroine matched with spectacular special effects. If all this is linked to an already existing franchise and comes with its own ready-made fan base, why all the better. Thing is, I suspected I might be a tad too old for it (anyone who knows me laughed outloud at that comment. I admit, coming from a family where my 90 year-old grandmother is a Harry Potter fan, this may sound a tad bit strange. ) But anyway. I sort of thought, you know what, this is probably for people at least 10 years younger than me. If not a bit younger. So I left it be, until that is, it started crossing my path repeatedly. “Oh fine” I said to myself “it’s a rainy Sunday afternoon, I’ll watch you if you insist that much”. Well, I have to admit, the tenacious little film had a point…

I guess you kinda caught onto the story through all the adds but I’ll give you a quick rundown in case you forgot. You may not be a fan. And it has been a while.

Ok, so in the far future, in a dystopian world where a lot has gone awry, people live under strict governmental control. The country is divided into 12 districts, all mainly responsible for the production of one product for the whole country. But see, this state of (relative) peace was not always the way things were. There was once an uprising, civil war no less, and this led to a bloody repression. Then, the wise men in the capitol decided that as a reminder of these sad events (and more importantly, so they never do it again) they would organise the following event. Every year, every district would select at random a boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18. These 24 youngsters would go into the capital, to be placed in a highly computerised forest (I mean, I call it a forest but think “Truman Show”) where they fight, to the death, until one single victor remains.  This event is called “The Hunger Games”. The victor then goes on to be rich and famous and shake off, if they can, the trauma of what just happened. I mean, the film is good but not that original, as you can guess, our heroine, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is selected to represent her district (rather she volunteers to represent it in lieu of her younger sister who was initially selected), the poor, coal-mining district 12 (Germinal anyone? No? Ok…). Let the games begin!

Now this film has a lot going in its favour. And I mean, a lot. Originality, I’m sorry to say, ain’t one of ‘em. I could practically predict every beat from the beginning to the end. And this is not me showing off my film knowledge. Anyone who has watched a handful of Hollywood movies will be able to too. Besides, this is the first book of a series. The second film will be released in November 2013. It stars Jennifer Lawrence. Err, in that case, gee, I wonder who wins the Hunger Games in this film???

This however, did not stop me waving and yelling instructions at Katniss during the games. The special effects are both well done and well used. Yes there is a little too much emotional lather but well… You go into that kind of thing with your eyes open. You would be naïve NOT to expect it. And heck, sometimes one needs a touch of emotional lather. Besides, it’s an interesting consideration on TV shows and the celebrity culture today. I mean, think of all the reality shows we have parading around these days for a second. Naturally the Hunger Games are highly televised and most of the film painstakingly points out that our heroes are part of a TV show. True, we have the ones like “I’m a celebrity get me out of here” and all that. But at the end of the day no one is in real danger. It’s rather eerie to think what the ratings would be if people actually got killed off one by one. Oh yes, it’s horrific, it sickens me to think about it, but just imagine. If such a TV show existed. Just assuming for a second it somehow came into being, with no control from any kind of authority. How popular would it be? Would there be a public outcry? Or would the ratings sore through the roof? Take a minute to think about it… (One film attempting to consider this last question was Live! starring Eva Mendes. I watched it a while ago and remember thinking it could have done a lot better for itself - but it still could be worth checking out) 

PRESENTING AN OSCAR SWEETHEART: "SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK"

You may look at the name of this film and the subject matter and you may well decide to steer clear of it. It’s understandable. Especially if you haven’t read the book. Mental illness and family difficulties may sound a tad bit too serious for an evening out. Luckily this particular baby has 8 Oscar® nominations and a big name like Robert De Niro for extra pull. A good thing too, otherwise audiences would miss out on one of the sweetest films made in recent history.

Pat (Bradley Cooper) is just out of hospital.  This would be a sensitive time for anyone, but especially for Pat and his family, because Pat is just out of a mental institution.  Having just discovered he had undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder (after what we shall call for now a rather unfortunate incident involving his ex-wife and her lover) he has undergone the necessary treatment and is now ready to face society once again – or is he? Yes, Pat seems to be doing everything he possibly can to get his life back on track but with one caveat. He wants his life back on track so he can get back together with his ex-wife. His ex-wife has a restraining order on him, so, as you can imagine, this is not an entirely straightforward process. In the midst of all this, however, his friends and relatives are doing the best they can to support him. His father’s (Robert De Niro) OCD is as bad as ever and it’s all his mother (Jacqui Weaver) can do to keep them both in line. Besides, on good days Pat is buoyant, full of energy and optimism… But then there are the bad days… The bad days are really bad… Especially considering Pat is not too hot on the idea of taking his meds. But then, then Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence of The Hunger Games fame) comes into his life. Tiffany has her own demons to contend with, this much is obvious. She is intelligent, sassy, talented, ok she’s more than a little crazy, but she may well be just what Pat needs… If he can get his mind off his ex-wife for two seconds that is…

Now, on the one hand there are things I don’t like that much about this film. Mainly the fact that, when you scratch the bottom of it, it is blindingly obvious who’s going to get together with who, etc, etc. Ok it’s technically a spoiler so I won’t tell you the end, but yeah. It’s basically the first scenario you thought of. You might say, why get upset with that? Films like that are two a penny, why let this specific one get to you? Well my dears, simply because, the film has SO much promise in other areas I would have honestly expected a lot better from it. A lot better.

Having had personal experience of people with Bipolar disorder, I can safely say that both the character of Pat and his relationship with his family are accurate to the bone. I have read reviews from viewers with the same disorder, all highly recommending anyone who has the disorder – and now has it under control – and the families and loved ones of anyone with this disorder to see the film. I second that. You will see SO MUCH that is so familiar. Pat is infuriating. His behaviour is erratic to say the least and sometimes downright dangerous, both to himself and to those around him. But with his endless optimism, his seemingly inexhaustible ability to bounce back, you can’t help but love him as well. Then there is the relationship with his father. Again, this is not a particularly original theme, but, maybe due to Robert De Niro’s great talent, there were bits that brought tears to my eyes. Not only are they a typical father – son in that everyone is very “manly” and problems and feelings are not discussed, the father also suffers from what is obviously quite serious OCD.

I guess the point is we’re all a little mad when you think about it but we’re all trying to battle our personal demons, be they big or small, towards the same goals in life. Love, happiness, success…  Ok, yes, I do think bits of it could be worked out a lot better. But the bits that work, work SO damn well… I don’t know man, you just HAVE to see it.