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Reviews
American Hustle (2013)
I wish it had just been a caper movie.....
I liked parts of American Hustle quite a lot. The title works on several levels. The performances were outstanding. It looked great. I just think it tried to do too much. It's basically a story about Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser, a couple of pretty good con artists who ran some pretty good cons, how they got caught by the FBI, and what they did about it. That's a foundation for a neat little caper movie.
BUT, Mr. Russell had Bradley Cooper attached, so he spent a lot of time on Mr. Cooper's FBI character, Richie DiMaso, Richie's fractious relationship with his supervisor and his growing obsession with Sydney, without really providing any motivation for him other than a hint of a drug habit and a suspicion that his ambition might be out of control.
Irving's wife, Rosalyn, plays a small but pivotal role, but Mr. Russell had Jennifer Lawrence attached, so her role became expanded to the point of becoming a distraction. About one tenth of Rosalyn's histrionics would have been just as effective.
When the story finally comes full circle, back to Irving and Sydney, the denouement seems to come out of left field. I'd have liked this movie a lot better if it had stayed with Irving and Sydney throughout. Then the payoff would have been a logical progression of events and a great deal more satisfying than it was.
The Informant! (2009)
Unsatisfying
My problem with this movie is that Steven Soderbergh has tried to make a funny movie about a situation that isn't inherently funny. The discovery and dismantling of the Archer-Daniels-Midland price-fixing scandal is a compelling story, but it isn't funny. Nor is ADM executive/whistle-blower Mark Whitacre. He's bizarre, strange, frustrating, and totally (in the immortal words of Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoush) "out there," which makes for some funny moments, but he isn't funny.
Matt Damon does a terrific job as Whitacre, and Melanie Lynskey is believable and sympathetic as his wife, but there are gaps in the portrayal of their relationship, and the movie suffers for it. What, exactly, has he told her that's causing her to urge him to talk to the FBI? And was she always aware of his mental problems? If not, when did she start to realize the extent of his fabrications?
Also, what did the FBI agents really think about him? When did they realize what a loose cannon they had? How did they decide to deal with what they knew about him? The same questions could be asked about the lawyers he eventually hires.
I wish Mr. Soderbergh had given us a straighter and more complete story; I think it would have been a much better movie.
Proof of Life (2000)
Better than the critics said it was!
This movie got qualified praise in our neighborhood, but I don't have a clue what the problem was. The plot was tight, the corporate bad guys weren't overemphasized - they're merely a device, well used, and the acting quite good. Crowe - well, you can't take your eyes off the screen when he's on. Meg Ryan was perfectly fine (though I wish she'd --just once--comb her hair and wear a sweater that doesn't cover her hands). Everybody talks about the Crowe/Ryan chemistry, but even better was the relationship between Russell Crowe's and David Caruso's characters. I've missed David Caruso and was glad to see him in such a good role. All three undeplayed nicely, and said a lot without using too many words. (And yes, I liked David Morse too. A nice, juicy part for him.)
Finally, I'm picky about action scenes--in happy contrast to the confusion of Crowe's last blockbuster "Gladiator," director Hackford filmed the big action scenes in this movie in a way that left the viewer very aware of just exactly what was happening and where.
I really liked this movie.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
I liked the book better.
I didn't particularly like Minghella's treatment of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley. Ripley as an opportunistic sociopath is far more interesting than Minghella's anti-hero-with-an-identity-crisis. There was enough of the book in the screenplay that I recognized it, but the changes to the plot didn't work very well, and the last death made no sense at all. The look of the movie is wonderful, and the performances terrific, but as one hoping for a faithful adaptation of Highsmith's book, I was disappointed.