AMERICAN HUSTLE  3.0***

 

         Let me say at the outset that I am at odds with the majority of critics  in that I thought that American Hustle was a good movie, but  not a great movie.  The Director, David O. Russell, assembled some of Hollywood's most sought-after talent that includes Oscar-winners Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence along with Oscar-nominees Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner.   Based on the popularity of last year's Silver Linings Playbook, and the awesome cast, this was supposed to be Russell's masterpiece.  In my opinion it is not… good, even very good, but not great.

 

Set in New Jersey, American Hustle follows con man  Christian Bale along with his partner and mistress Amy Adams who get caught red-handed in one of their schemes by FBI Agent Bradley Cooper However. instead of imprisonment Cooper convinces the two to try to pull off their biggest heist yet on political operator Jeremy Renner. They agree but Bale has the difficult task of trying to keep his eccentric wife Jennifer Lawrence under control so as not to blow their cover.

 

American Hustle looks and feels like a 70’s  film through and through. Everything from the set pieces, the costumes  and  the soundtrack takes you out of the present and throws you delightfully into the 70’s. The characters' late 70’s dress and hair styles are amazing. Be it Christian Bale’s almost bald head combed to make the hair fuller, Jennifer Lawrence’s upswept hair, Bradley Cooper’s  fake curls or Jeremy Renner’s Elvis Presley hairdo, they are all screaming seventies. But while there is plenty of style, there is little substance. What bothered me most was how overly complicated the plot was which made it hard to follow. Also at times the scenes were overdone and thus  the movie is too long ( 2 hr. 9 min.) . The movie could and should have been funnier, wittier and tighter

 

With that being said, what you do have is one of the best performances in recent times by the "entire" cast. It's a movie about strongly connected characters and how they will blindly step all over each other in order to achieve their goals. It's wonderful seeing such talented people playing such flawed, vulnerable, and believable characters.  Christian Bale is the master of makeover ( he put on 40 to 50 lbs for the role) and is so much into character that at times it’s hard to believe that the same guy played the famous caped crusader. Amy Adams is fabulous and  completely convincing as a conniving ruthless seductress. Jennifer Lawrence is adorable, playing the crazy, eccentric and loud mouthed wife. Bradley Cooper is great with his funny hair playing the over-zealous FBI Agent.  And  I might be stretching it, but Renner has that aura of Joe Pesci. I absolutely loved everyone in the movie. But what really made this movie for me was Jennifer Lawrence. She stole every scene that she was in. Whether she's accidentally setting her kitchen on fire, angrily dancing to "Live and Let Die" or walking around with a neck brace, she is absolutely hilarious.  

 Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and brief violence .

Clark

 

 

SAVING MR. BANKS  3.8***

 

    Tom Hanks is Walt Disney and Emma Thompson is P.L. Travers, the author of the "Mary Poppins" books in "Saving Mr. Banks,". For twenty years, P.L. Travers has refused to sell the rights to her Mary Poppins books to Walt Disney. Finally, her agent tells her that she’s running out of money because she doesn't have any new sales or residuals coming in and she really ought to take Walt up on his offer. He has promised her final say on the film.

Reluctantly, the uptight, very proper P.L. Travers goes to Hollywood and proceeds to drive Walt Disney, composers Richard and Robert Sherman and everyone else insane with her ridiculous demands and criticisms. Despite his best efforts, Disney cannot get her to warm up to him, and after a period of time, she still hasn't signed over the rights. In a way, Disney understands because "the mouse" (that would become Mickey) is very personal for him, and when he had the chance, he wouldn't sell the character. But in another way, he is mystified. Travers herself doesn't seem to understand what drives her stubbornness, yet she keeps having flashbacks to her own childhood in Australia with her sweet albeit drunken father ( played exceptionally well by Colin Farrell) who died young when she was a teen, and her unhappy mother (Ruth Wilson).

The film should really be called "Solving P.L. Travers" because it's the story of a woman coming to terms with her life and being able to let go of the past. Emma Thompson is absolutely wonderful as the prim and proper British dame, firing off snappy dialogue laced with sardonic wit , an unlikeable woman who becomes more likable as we gradually understand her, and Hanks is fantastic as Disney, a remarkable man with great vision but is also one who is used to winning people over… having his way.

Saving Mr. Banks" is a truly great and beautifully told film.  It's a movie that exemplifies why we go to the movies and what Disney stands for as an entertainment corporation. It is equal parts heartfelt, witty, charming, entertaining, and emotionally satisfying.  One of the best movies of the year and will be in the Oscar race.

Clark

 

OUT OF THE FURNANCE  2.0 ***

 

          This is the second movie by director Scott Cooper-his first was “Crazy Heart”' where Jeff Bridges won a Best Actor Oscar. Christian Bale and Casey Affleck star as brothers  living in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania. Christian works in a steel mill  handling a furnace. Casey just got back from the his 3^rd tour in Iraq. After an accident that results in the deaths of 2 people, Christian goes to prison with for being DUI.. Casey does another tour in Iraq, returns home and  gets tired of trying to get a regular job------he does not want to work in the steel mills like his brother and father----and gets involved with Woody Harrelson, an illegal bare-knuckle fight promoter. Woody also deals in drugs and looks like a typical mean as a snake redneck hillbilly although he is from New Jersey-I guess they have redneck hillbillies in New Jersey, too. When Christian gets out of prison, his life turns into a country/western song; his girlfriend has left him, his father is dead, and his brother  disappears. The only thing left for Christian to do is to try to straighten out his life and get some kind of closure.

   

 Nothing about this bleak, brutal, blue-collar melodrama will make you feel good. It’s the opposite. It is a depressing downer of a movie. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong for everybody. "Out of the Furnace" puts its heroes, villains, and victims through a grim gauntlet.  Essentially, "Out of the Furnace" focuses on the bond of brotherly love between two brothers who encounter more than their share of suffering at the hands of the sadistic, bare-knuckled fight promoter played with chilling intensity by Woody Harrelson.  

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Christian Bale ditches the Batman cape in exchange for a goatee and bedraggled look. “Out of the Furnace” is a mediocre movie. It doesn't have anything to do with the acting which is really quite good. The movie is just is not fulfilling. Bale, not surprisingly,  plays his part well, and is one of the saving graces of this subpar film which is simply too bleak and too slow .

 

It's rated "R" for language, violence and drug content and has a running time of 1 hour & 56 minutes.

 

Clark

   

THE BOOK THIEF   3.0***

 

 

         You of course have seen movies that have narration but I bet you haven't seen one like this. In this movie, the narrator is Death, i.e. the “Grim Reaper”, which though strange nonetheless works.

“The Book Thief” is from a popular “youth book” and  is about a young girl  whose brother dies and her mother abandons her - all at the age of 11. She's adopted by an older couple in Germany just as Hitler and The Nazi movement are in full control. Her foster father teaches her how to read which lights a fire inside of her to read and read and read. Again, since this is Nazi Germany, books are very hard to find. The only way she can get  books is to "borrow" them from a rich family who hired the mother to do their laundry.  Also, her family agrees to hide a young Jewish man in their basement which puts the young girl's family at great risk. But, the young girl and the young man become very good friends, helping each other through hard times. During this time, there are many people dying so Death is very nearby and has a lot to say.  

 The film is hauntingly beautiful, and moves at an effortless pace…. not too fast, not too slow- allowing the viewers to become immersed in the realities of Liesel's situation. Lovely Sophie Nelisse is stunningly perfect in the role of Liesel, capturing both the bright-eyed innocence and the eventual world-weary quality needed for the role.. Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson, of course, are their usual extraordinary selves as Liesel's adoptive parents.

This is truly a movie for all ages not just for young people. It operates on many levels, as a commentary on the disastrous effects of World War II and as a poignant tale of one small soul fighting for her own sense of humanity.  It is a touching film that will leave viewers young and old just a bit speechless.

Clark

:      This review is for a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie (”Christmas in Conway”) that just premiered this week and is now showing on the Hallmark TV channel.  The Movie was made in Wilmington, NC but is supposed to be happening in Conway, SC. It’s a really fine film that tugs at the heartstrings. A good addition to anyone’s Christmas movie list.

By the way, when you watch it don’t skip over the Hallmark commercials…they wonderful.

 

 

CHRISTMAS IN CONWAY  3.0***

           Natalie(Mandy Moore) is a hospice nurse who  goes to Conway SC, 60 miles from home, to take care of Suzy (Mary Louise Parker), who is terminally ill and was only allowed to come home from the hospital if she had a home care nurse. Even so,Suzy's husband Duncan (Andy Garcia) doesn't want a nurse, saying he can take care of her himself.  Suzy has given up on chemotherapy so beating the cancer is no longer an option . But she hasn’t giving up either. Duncan  seems like a cranky old man  but he is very loving to Suzy, and inside the house  shows the emotions he is trying to hide when anyone else is around. He doesn't know how he will make it without her.

Duncan wants to take Suzy to Myrtle Beach so they can relive the day he proposed to her on a Ferris wheel there. But Suzy is too sick to make the trip. There is another way : Duncan decides to get a Ferris wheel of his own and put it up in his backyard. He is told that a guy named Henry has one.  Henry is a wacko who runs a junkyard . And NO the broken-down Ferris wheel is NOT for sale. But after a lot of haggling, one day a large truck shows up with Henry and his 2 of his buddies. All they do is unload. Duncan will have to do the rest, and Henry provides what directions he has.  

Meanwhile, Suzy is going downhill, though she tries to remain positive. As the Ferris wheel goes up Duncan encounters many problems. Can he make this fantasy really happen? Will Suzy even make it until it does?

The cast is quite good as is the story which is heart rendering  and sweet. And it doesn't shy away from the reality of terminal illness.  This is a worthy effort for the Hallmark Hall of Fame and adds to its list of fine movies.

 

Clark

 

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB... 3.3****

 

       It’s not unusual for an actor  to alter their physical appearance for a movie role.  Regardless of the transformation what really matters is the performance and the character. In “Dallas Buyers Club”, we actually get two incredible transformations that lead to two stunning performances.
Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto each lost approximately 40 to 50 pounds for their respective roles as Ron Woodroof, a rugged,redneck, ultra-macho, alcoholic/drug-addicted electrician/rodeo bull-riding  playboy; and Rayon, a sensitive, street-savvy, would be transsexual so desperate for a kind word. Their physical appearance will startle you more than once and is quite effective in showing  the ravishes of those infected with HIV virus in the 1980's. Both are superb in their roles and should get Oscar nominations

 

The movie is based on a true story and a real life guy (Woodroof) who became a most unlikely beacon of hope for AIDS patients. Woodroof fought the medical industry, drug companies and the government (FDA, DEA, IRS) for the right to treat oneself with whatever medicines were available in the world. It's impossible to miss the message that most of the drug companies may have the goal of increasing profits rather than curing the deadly disease.

 

Until recently, Matthew McConaughey's body of work was just that, a body that worked well on the screen for so many of the aimless romantic/comedies in which he played the lead.  In 2011, McConaughey was the lead “ The Lincoln Lawyer” and this year the lead in “Mud”. In both McConaughey was finally able to flex some of his acting muscles as opposed to abdomen muscles., McConaughey has reinvented his career and is now being  casted as a serious actor with serious acting skills. McConaughey and his Texan accent were  a match made in heaven for his role as the slowly weathering and dying HIV/AIDS patient  Woodruff.

 

Dallas Buyers Club is a  heavy-hitting drama with lasting effects. Dramatizing the social discrimination of gays in the South and the condition of many low-income  American residents, the film raises the question of whether or not AIDS/HIVS and other fatal diseases are fairly treated by government  and whether the main goal of the powerful drug companies is wealth  or health.

 

Rated “R” for pervasive bad language, some strong sexual content/nudity and drug use.

 

Clark
 

PHILOMENA  3.5***

 

 By the way, Philomena is the name of the lead character in the moved brilliantly played by Judi Dench. ( It sounds more like a STD or a species of fish  ??)

 Philomena is a film  that pulls hard  at your heartstrings.  It's the story of great injustice that was inflicted on young girls some 50 years ago who had the misfortune in society's eyes to become pregnant out of wedlock. It's easy to say it was the fault of the harsh attitude of  the Irish Catholic Church, but that would be like saying that anti-Semitism was all the fault of the Germans. No, this is not a story of the Catholic Church vs. the more caring world, but rather a look back in time to a series of events and cruel attitudes whose ramifications still echo today.

This is the story of one woman, Philomena, as portrayed in her old age by Judi Dench. She is a stoical, quiet, but lighthearted woman who has an undercurrent of great sadness. The story begins with her finally telling her daughter about the son she had at age 18 who was taken from her and sold by adoption  by the Irish Catholic Church 50 years ago. She  admits that she desperately needs to seek him out, "I just want him to know that he was loved." Her daughter is able to enlist a journalist, Martin Sixsmith ( Steve Coogan), who is at loose ends and rather reluctantly agrees to help her in her search using all his considerable skills of a long time journalist.  This is a true story in that there really is a Philomena Lee, whose son, Anthony, was taken from her at age three. And there really is a Martin Sixsmith, the journalist who helped her.  

While the movie has a quite good story, what makes this film so very watchable are the performances. Judi Dench once again proves that she is one the finest working actresses of our age. Her performance is absolutely exquisite. Good bet that she will get an Oscar nomination.. Steve Coogan, as Sixsmith, is also very, very good.   The characters played by  Dench and  Coogan  are something of a very "odd couple".. Dench is remarkable is her role as the simple woman who reads romance novels, gets excited about salad bars, is thrilled with mints on her pillow, and has lived a lifetime with a hole in her heart created by having her young son ripped from her world. Coogan is effectively restrained as the snooty Brit journalist who thinks human interest stories are a waste of time. She has maintained her religious faith and faith in people, while he has long ago given up on God and flaunts his cynicism in most every situation.

 

Philomena is an incredible and heartfelt story. It's sad, yet never overly sentimental. There's some genuinely funny moments, mainly emanating from the contrast between the wide-eyed and refreshing simplicity of Philomena's world view and the weary wryness of Sixsmith.  

 

Clark