Justice League

Arrival

Her

American Hustle

Directed by David O. Russell.

2013. Rated R, 138 minutes.

Cast:

Christian Bale

Amy Adams

Bradley Cooper

Jennifer Lawrence

Jeremy Renner

Robert De Niro

Louis C.K.

Michael Pena

Shea Whigham

Elisabeth Rohm

Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his girlfriend (Sydney Prosser) are a successful pair of con artists with their hands in a few different pots. They're ripping fools off and keeping them on a string all while enjoying each other's company. Life is good. Things change when they get busted by ambitious FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper). After applying some pressure, Richie tells the couple they can get off cleanly if they agree to help him make four more arrests. The problem in everyone's eyes except Richie's is that the targets get increasingly larger in profile and difficulty to ensnare. Complicating things even furhter is Irving's wife Rosalyn (Lawrence). She won't let her husband go even though it's obvious he no longer wants to be married, at least to her. She's also on the unstable side. Her unpredictability threatens to bring down the whole operation.

As he has in the past, director David O. Russell proves to be extremely adept at not only telling his story almost completely through dialogue, but having it remain entertaining all the way through. In a great many films, the words people are saying are merely perfunctory. Characters say enough to advance the plot. The trick Russell pulls is that in addition to propelling our story, these people seem to be living and dying with each conversation. It's something he used to great effect in Silver Linings Playbook. Here, he may have one upped himself. In SLP, the characters merely believed their lives were hanging in the balance as they spilled their guts. To an extent, they were as we were dealing with a number of people with fragile psyches. In American Hustle, that extent reaches the literal level. There is a real chance the our heroes will turn up dead as a result of one conversation or another.

To make all that talking work, Russell needs the help of his magnificent cast. The ensemble delivers and then some. Much of the hype surrounding this movie's performances focused on the work of the two ladies we see most: Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence. Both are tremendous and more than earned their Oscar nominations. Adams continues a recent stretch of excellent performances that started with her turn in The Master and even includes her underrated work in Man of Steel. This time, she shows us a woman who is smart, despite some of her own decisions. She's in love with a guy that she recognizes she can never fully have if she continues to stay with him the way things are. She also know she can't reach the heights she aspires to without him. Meanwhile, Lawrence gives us another phenomenal portrayal of a woman with questionable sanity. When this past awards season rolled around I started to read and hear a lot of moaning and groaning about the love Lawrence was getting. Most accused the Academy of favoritism, or just giving her a nod because she's a popular and highly bankable actress. I think she was legitimately outstanding. She shared scenes with Adams, Cooper, and most often, Bale, and each time she was the most captivating person on the screen.

None of this is to suggest that the men were not good. As a group, they were just as good as the ladies, if not better due to sheer quantity. Bradley Cooper continues to distance himself from being just a pretty face. The fact that we can feel his character's ambition jumping off the screen earned him an Oscar nomination, too. Also continuing is David O. Russell's resurrection of Rober De Niro. For the first time since the 1990s, we get a totally scary Bobby D. He only gets a few minutes of screen time, but it is an intense pocket of time. On the opposite end of the spectrum is comedian Louis C.K. as Cooper's boss. It's a wonderful comic relief role that he pulls off without doing anything that would qualify as zany. Between DeNiro and C.K. is a perfect Jeremy Renner as Mayor Carmine Polito. Everything about him feels exactly right.

Then there's Christian Bale. He once again throw his entire body into his work, physically transforming into the person he's playing. Lots of actors, some excellent ones included, simply play themselves in multiple movies. This isn't the case with Bale. Trevor Reznik (The Machinist), Dicky Eklund (The Fighter), and Bruce Wayne (The Dark Knight Trilogy) all share a similar face, but are very clearly different men. Bale completely disappears into his characters and Irving Rosenfeld is no exception. It yet another impressive turn by an amazing actor.

The larger plot, the one about trying to make the busts, is really of secondary importance to our enjoyment of American Hustle. It's an interesting tale that provides some tense moments, but it isn't what compels us to watch. The dynamics between the various characters is what does this. How these people interact and feel, or don't feel, for each other keeps us engaged. Whether or not any of them is someone we like is debatable. What is not open for discussion is that these are magnetic personas. We struggle to peel our eyes away from any of them. We can also see each of their points of view. This helps us understand their motivations. Armed with this knowledge, we can easily empathize with them as their various objectives seem to get further away. Propelled by an amazing cast and enhanced by sure direction, American Hustle is a very enjoyable experience.

The Master

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

2012. Rated R, 143 minutes.

Cast:

Joaquin Phoenix

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Amy Adams

Laura Dern

Ambyr Childers

Jesse Plemons

Rami Malek

Madisen Beaty

Lena Endre

Kevin J. O’Connor

Amy Ferguson

Joshua Close

Patty McCormack

Right away we come to understand that Freddie Quell  (Phoenix) is a tad off. After serving in World War II, reintegrating into normal society has been an issue for him. Our natural inclination to sympathize with veterans is tested because we get the sense he wasn't wrapped too tight even before the war. And he’s overly obsessed with two things: getting drunk and getting laid. He manages the former practically every night; the latter, not at all.

One drunken night, Freddie wanders into the circle of Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), AKA The Master to his followers. He’s written a book, teaches cryptic lessons and performs strange rituals to enlighten us all. In effect, he’s started his own religion which many would call a cult. From everything I've read, the guy is based on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Makes sense. Anyhoo, he takes a shine to Freddie and begins “processing,” or indoctrinating him into “The Cause.” We spend the rest of the movie watching The Master try to tame this particularly wild beast.

Charges of fraud and other improprieties against Dodd happen from time to time. We also wonder how much control over The Master his wife Peggy (Adams) has. These things are interesting, but neither holds our attention like the battle of wills waged by The Master and Freddie. Therefore, our enjoyment of this film is derived almost entirely from the dynamics between the two men. The only other thing that really perks us up is the same battle of wills Freddie is fighting with himself. If he simply can’t control himself, how does Dodd ever hope to?

Facilitating our intrigue, we get a pair of wonderful performances from Hoffman and Phoenix. Hoffman is perfectly charismatic as the leader of a budding way of thought, no matter how out there it may be. In an exemplary manner, he pulls off his character’s ability to instantly adapt his explanations to most lines of questioning and knack for shouting down anyone not persuaded by his answers. The work Phoenix turns in is flat amazing. From the start, he fully embodies this raging man-child who is understanding of little more than pleasure and pain. In any year in which Daniel Day-Lewis hadn't convinced people he was actually Abraham Lincoln, Phoenix may very well have walked off with the Oscar that he was nominated for.

Unfortunately, deciphering what we’re supposed to take from this movie is no easy task. As it rolls along, it seems to be peeling back Dodd’s many fraudulent layers, but it never follows through in any tangible way. Most notably, Dodd’s own son is presented as a non-believer, but nothing is ever done with this once we learn it. The young man just keeps going along with the program while wearing a pissed off look on his face. It might also be an examination of Freddie’s sanity, or lack thereof. Much of the film at least hints at that idea, while two scenes in particular intently focus on it. Well, maybe. The first includes a party where many of the followers are happily playing music, clapping and dancing while the very drunk Dodd sings a tune. It so happens that all the women are standing around naked. It’s shown as if this may only be Freddie’s perspective on things. However, it’s also followed by a rather strange moment between Dodd and Peggy that suggests otherwise. Later, the rather lengthy “window to the wall” scene shows that poor sap Freddie cracking up while made to walk repeatedly from one end of a room to the other. Then again, it’s more likely this is just to showcase Dodd trying to break him as he attempts on numerous occasions. It’s also entirely possible that, as the ending suggests, this is all about Freddie’s quest to get a woman into bed and just how intricately tied to his happiness the success of this mission is. Therefore, when The Master ends we may be hit by a wave of confusion as we wonder what we just watched. In this case, that’s a good thing. We have much to talk about.

Whatever it is, Paul Thomas Anderson directs it in a manner that makes it difficult to look away from. The shots are beautiful and, as stated, Hoffman and Phoenix command the screen. Many of their scenes together are scintillating. The director brings this out with excellent story-telling skills. Some people will take issue with the story he’s telling, or more specifically, they’ll wonder what the story is about.

Man of Steel

Enchanted

Directed by Kevin Lima.

2007. Rated PG, 107 minutes.

Cast:

Amy Adams

Patrick Dempsey

James Marsden

Susan Sarandon

Timothy Spall

Rachel Covey

Idina Menzel

Julie Andrews

In what appears to be a stock, animated fairy-tale, a prince (Marsden) meets a fair maiden (Adams) in the woods and the two fall in love. This doesn't sit well with the prince’s evil witch of a mother (Sarandon) who banishes the bride-to-be to “the land where there are no happily ever afters.” That land would be live-action New York City.

It’s a simple premise, executed very well. Essentially, it’s a fish-out-of-water tale. In this case, the fish comes from a world we've all watched numerous times as kids and again when we ourselves have kids. To effectively tell its story it has to poke fun at itself and it does. The cast really helps in this department. Patrick Dempsey gives his normal bland performance. However, everyone around him is obviously hamming it up and having a great time doing so, including a wonderful turn by James Marsden as our prince. Not least of all in the ham department is Susan Sarandon as the evil witch. She just seems to be having a ball by running with the opportunity to overact on purpose. She and her cast-mates clearly convey the message this is a fairy-tale that knows fairy-tales are inherently preposterous. It’s not an all-out deconstruction of the genre like the original Shrek but it holds its own as a self-parody that’s smart enough to entertain adults. It’s also wacky enough, with plenty of songs to keep the kids into it.

Of course, on the flip side, it’s wacky enough, with plenty of songs to keep the kids into it. Let’s be honest, whenever Disney movies kick into Broadway show-tune mode plenty of adults would gladly murder a loved one if we knew that would make it stop. We just don’t for fear of being perceived as heartless menaces to the unrelenting joy being shoved down our throats. Anyhoo, I’m pretty sure my two daughters watched this movie 647 times in a three day span.

This one’s an easy call. If you have small kids, particularly girls, they will love this movie. All of you strange, creepy adults who are still huge Disney fans will probably enjoy this more than is healthy and should seek professional help. Just kiddin'. Sort of. Let's move on. Parents shouldn't mind this. It’s funny, smart enough for you to “get” and plenty of fun.

MY SCORE: 7.5/10

Trouble with the Curve

Directed by Robert Lorenz.

2012. Rated PG-13, 111 minutes.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood

Amy Adams

Justin Tumberlake

John Goodman

Chelcie Ross

George Wyner

Matthew Lillard

Robert Patrick

Joe Massingill

Ed Lauter

Tom Nowicki

Gus Lobel (Eastwood) has been a baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves for forever and a day. He loves the game so much he even named his daughter Mickey (Adams) after Mickey Mantle, his all-time favorite player. As it eventually happens to most of us, Gus’ eyes are going on him. That’s an even bigger deal than normal given his job. It doesn't help that Philip (Lillard), the young hotshot in the front-office wants to phase him out and rely much more heavily on his new fangled computers.

Luckily for Gus, he’s still got one friend who thinks like him and is willing to go to bat for him. That’s Pete (Goodman), who also works in the front-office. He figures out what’s wrong with his buddy and, in hopes of saving Gus’ job, convinces Mickey to tag along with her dad on a scouting trip to watch highly-touted prospect Bo Gentry (Massingill). Bo literally gets a hit on the first pitch of every at-bat until the plot requires otherwise. Since he’s so good, he is also an insufferable jackass. Scouting Bo aside, the real question is whether Gus and Mickey can survive each other. They don’t have much of a relationship mostly because Gus is a crotchety old dude who isn't happy unless he’s ripping someone a new one. Think Clint’s character from Gran Torino sans racism and cool car.

Watching Eastwood and Adams play off one another is somewhat intriguing. They combine to create a genuine portrayal of two people who care for each other but can’t communicate without it getting testy. A little less effective is the telegraphed-from-a-mile-away romance between Adams’ character and Johnny “Flame” Flanagan played by Justin Timberlake. He’s a former pitcher once scouted by Gus who is now a rival scout for the Boston Red Sox. Some of their scenes together are fun, especially if you enjoy baseball trivia. Unfortunately, her overly pushy boyfriend treating their relationship like a business transaction plus the fact that Flanagan is the only other scout that doesn't qualify for AARP makes it feel too preordained for us to get worked up about.

Things go along well enough for a good deal of the run time, but dammit, we've got problems to solve. Best handled of these is Gus and Mickey’s relationship. It feels like a logical resolution. On the other end of the spectrum is Gus’ work issue and Mickey’s love affair. That love thing is handled exactly like you suspect it will be but were praying the filmmakers aren't that lazy. Sorry, they are.

That work issue is even more ridiculous. Being a baseball fan with friends who shun the hordes of new statistics out there, I am acutely aware that this movie plays as the exact counter-argument to the Brad Pitt flick Moneyball. Even so, what this movie comes up with is just way too contrived for its own good. Basically, it’s “look what fell out of the sky!” What we’re left with is a film that plucks along in an occasionally interesting manner, thanks to the performances of its leads, but never quite gets us emotionally involved enough to buy the ending.

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

The Fighter

Directed by David O. Russell.
2010. Rated R, 115 minutes.
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Christian Bale
Amy Adams
Melissa Leo
Mickey O’Keefe
Jack McGee
Melissa McMeekin
Bianca Hunter
Frank Renzulli

Micky Ward (Wahlberg) has lost his last three fights and is at a crossroads in his professional boxing career. He is trained by his brother Dicky (Bale). Dicky is a local legend, having been a former fighter himself. He’s quick to tell anyone within earshot that he once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard (who has a brief cameo as himself). Dicky is also extremely unreliable due to his addiction to crack. His pro career combined with his drug habit have brought him to the attention of cable network HBO. They have a camera following him around. He tells everyone they are making a documentary about his comeback, though he doesn’t seem to be working towards one. He is the center of attention, just the way he likes it. However, his demons threaten to sabotage his brother’s career.

Micky’s mom, Alice (Leo) also serves as his manager. She’s well meaning but not the best at either job. She’s often preoccupied with Dicky’s misadventures. With everyone except Dicky, she’s a domineering matriarch ruling her clan with an iron fist. In Dicky’s case, she’s a pushover. The entire family is this towards Dicky. This includes a litter of sisters. Micky’s dream of being a champion is in their hands.

The family dynamic plays itself on a loop in Micky’s life. He’s at the gym, ready to work, but his brother is nowhere to be found until hours after they were supposed to have started training. Alice gets him bad fights with little or no strategy for actually building his career. Micky’s father George (McGee) tries to be the voice of reason. He clearly sees that what’s going on isn’t benefiting his boy. Unfortunately, he’s always shouted down by Alice. Eventually, Micky has to fend for himself. More accurately, he has to have better people fend for him. When this starts to happen is when the family suspects there is a problem. How dare he go outside their numbers for support without him?

We watch this drama unfold in a fashion that feels excruciatingly real. This is where the power of The Fighter lies. We’re either a part of, or have known families exactly like this. If we’re a part of such a family, our empathy for Micky is boundless. If we’ve only know families like this, he has out sympathy. We wish we could save him. We root hard for Charlene (Adams) because she is obviously trying to do just that. We cheer her every action during her run-ins with Alice and the sisters.

Carrying out such a display of not always humane humanity requires great acting. This movie has it in spades. Much has been made of Christian Bale’s work as Dicky. It’s well deserved, he’s magnificent. However, it’s the battle of wills between Alice and Charlene that drives the movie. Leo and Adams each play their roles with undeniable conviction. Every rolling of the eyes, raising of the voice, expressing of concerns, swilling of a shot and puffing of a cigarette rings true. More than becoming familiar with them, we really know them. We know that they both feel they are right beyond a shadow of a doubt. In the lead, Wahlberg gives a perfectly subtle performance. When he finally explodes emotionally, it’s not some overly showy display of acting. It’s completely within the realm of how we think he would behave.

For the uninformed, this is based on a true story. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying there is an eventual triumph. In this way, it’s much like hundreds of other sports movies. Rocky leaps to mind, for obvious reasons. So too, does Invincible, another Wahlberg flick and The Blind Side. They’re both football movies based on true stories. Those two are built one cliché after another until the inevitable feel-good finale. Invincible is more or less average in every way. The Blind Side has the benefit of a remarkable performance by Sandra Bullock. They both feel like a Hollywood version of what really happened, smoothed over and watered down. The Fighter utilizes many of the same conventions. Somehow though, it makes them feel much more real.

Julie & Julia

Directed by Nora Ephron.
2009. Rated PG-13, 123 minutes.
Cast:
Meryl Streep
Amy Adams
Stanley Tucci
Chris Messina
Linda Emond
Helen Carey
Mary Lynn Rajskub

Plot: In 1949, Julia Child (Streep) begins the journey which will make her a giant in the cooking industry. In 2002, Julie Powell (Adams) starts a blog and challenges herself to cook every recipe in the icon’s legendary cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. within 365 days. Based on two true stories.

The Good: It’s kinda hard to talk about a Meryl Streep movie and not start with her. As Child, Streep is a force of nature that simply dominates her every scene. As fine an actor as Stanley Tucci is, he plays her husband, he simply doesn’t stand a chance because he constantly shares the screen with her. She is “that” good. The movie does a nice job with the more contemporary story of Julie Powell and the strain her quest puts on her marriage. Adams and Messina make a very nice screen couple. As a pleasant surprise, it’s him we wind up rooting for.

The Bad: The telling of the two stories together rob the chronologically earlier part of any mystery. In any biopic, particularly of someone as famous as Child, there’s already an air of inevitability. That feeling is multiplies every time we switch back to Powell and continuous gushing over the icon. While the story of Julie and her husband is done well, it’s predictable. Their half of the movie feels like any number of the rom-coms we’ve already seen.

The Ugly: How Julia reacts when she learns of Julie.

Recommendation: J & J is a movie that really shouldn’t work as it’s constructed. On paper, it seems like it would be better as two separate films. However, the strength of the portrayals, not only by Streep but also by her cast-mates, makes the end result greater than the sum of its parts. Of course, if you require the slightest hint of testosterone-charged excitement to have a pleasurable viewing experience, look elsewhere.

The Opposite View: Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle

What the Internet Says: 7.2/10 on imdb.com (6/1/10), 75% on rottentomatoes.com, 66/100 on metacritic.com


MY SCORE: 6.5/10