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American Hustle | Film Review

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‘Some of this actually happened’ states the opening title card of David O. Russell’ s freewheeling and acerbic comedic caper. It’s a sly and flippant and comment that not only reflects on the crisscross narrative that we are about to receive. It also matches the confident swagger of The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, the double bill that marked O. Russell’s return to filmmaking several years after I Heart Huckabees (and several highly publicized verbal and physical alterations between collaborators) had somewhat sullied his career. In this hiatus Russell seems to have firmly pinned down his directorial voice and is making up for lost time, coming immediately on the critically lauded heels of these two recent films.

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At the tail end of the 1970’s Irving Rosenfield and Sydney Prosser (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) cross paths. He’s a con artist and forged art dealer, she’s a stripper with ambitions to be anything else and a flair for performance. They become lovers and partner up to dupe desperate would be clients out of vast fortunes. This comes to an abrupt halt when FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) traps them in a sting operation and then hands them an ultimatum; lengthy jail terms or help him bring down four major fraudsters using their inside knowledge of cons. With little choice the fragile alliance set their sights on Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), the mayor of a run down New Jersey town, whose otherwise decent dreams to see the town back on its feet has him resorting to bribing potential affluent backers. What follows is an increasingly fraught and escalating situation that involves political corruption, the East Coast mafia and Irving’s astonishingly volatile, wildcard wife Roslyn (Jennifer Lawrence). That and some very eye catching haircuts.

 

The films lengthy opening shot details Rosenfield’s painstaking preparation for engaging in his illicit trade. This includes applying a ridiculous and elaborate hair piece using super glue and a frankly eye watering comb over (Bale must be a frontrunner for most egoless star working). This sets the tone for the act of deception and the recreation of identity that runs throughout the film. Rosenfield takes an astonishing, almost delusional pride in the commitment to the roles that he takes on; a commitment followed by Sydney who adopts the persona of ‘Lady Edith’, a descendant of British aristocracy whose elusive charm helps reel in their marks. Indeed everyone in American Hustle is restless to be something other than who they are. Small timers want to be big fish, beat cops want to be national heroes and corrupt politicians want to be heros of the everyman. This provides a melancholic tone underlying throughout what would otherwise be a fairly generic crime comedy. Russell clearly has a lot of heart for the characters he writes and it’s matched by his verve behind the camera. Every frame of the film is bathed in a luxurious, warm hue along a variety of assured directorial flourishes ; crash zooms, tracking shots and multiple overlapping voiceovers. He’s making every effort to create a sense of the period in which the film is set and he doffs his cap to several filmmakers of the period. Martin Scorsese in particular seems to be evoked clearly in the directorial style and for the most part this works to keep the narrative pace high and the period evocation believable.

 

However whilst the majority of American Hustle plays out at high tempo, O. Russell’s looseattitude toward structure and a tight plot prove to be as much problematic and pleasurable.There’s no denying that there is a lot of fun to be had with the escalating sense of chaos and anarchism as it cruises along. It is often, and delightfully, full of near the knuckle dark humour and profane laced musings. O. Russell’s cast step up to the task admirably and the dialogue rings with an authentic, semi improvisational feel. The downside is that this occasionally drags down the complex plot and crucially even comes close to bringing it to a grinding halt. There is such a vast array of colorful side characters and layers of betrayal and deception, that the exhausting attention to period detail and character quirks seems to obscure what should otherwise be clear. And certainly whilst its surely impossible to make story like this boring, the film does feel overlong for what should otherwise be a light footed caper. If the film is guilty of being over indulgent however, we are in least in the greatest of company when it comes to the cast. Bale and Cooper are terrific as a unique spin on the hunter and prey cliche, forced to assist one another yet utterly resentful of one another. Their portrayals as tightly wound, temperamental, exasperated ‘professionals’ throb with an infectious energy and a disarming humility. Movie stars they may be, they both feel far away from typical star performances. As good as they are however, the film is absolutely stolen by Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence. Coming off her
Oscar win in O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, Lawrence radiates fiery passion and honesty as Rosenberg’s neglected wife and young mother. High strung and over emotional she may be, she is certainly no where near as daft and hopeless as she seems and her clear and concise attitudes towards other characters is often breathtaking. An alcohol induced rendition of ‘Live and Let Die’ is at once utterly tragic and uproariously funny. It is Adams however who comes across the genuine heart and soul of the film. Less showy than any of her co-stars, she finds the vulnerability and desperation at the centre of her character that makes her empathetic and quietly courageous. All are backed by a solid supporting cast including Louis C.K. as Richie’s exasperated boss and an understated cameo late on that is really not worth spoiling.

 

It’s good to see such a prominent filmmaker from the 90’s back on such prolific form and O. Russell’s touch is for the most part infectious. The true trick now will be to see where his directorial voice can go from this unofficial trilogy that American Hustle rounds out. Perhaps he’s gotten a little too caught up with the hair and fashion in, but then again it’s a lot of fun whilst it lasts.

 

Hunger Games: Catching Fire Film Review

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I was very excited to see Hunger Games: Catching Fire because I loved the first one so much. However, I was also worried that it would not be as good because it had so much to live up to.

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One of the highlights of The Hunger Games was, of course, Jennifer Lawrence. An epic heroine, the new Ripley. A survivor with a heart, sacrificing herself for her sister. Straight-talking and brave; Katniss might be one of the best female characters in a film ever. She is certainly one of the most inspirational. A role model even for real women.

Whilst watching Hunger Games: Catching Fire one thing struck me: that there may be people watching it thinking our society is not like this at all, but the Hunger Games does reflect our society, and more countries more than others. The gaps between the haves and the have nots, social injustice, oppression; the Hunger Games is more than thrilling entertainment, it is also a statement on the world we live in. An intelligent action film, well written with brilliant acting and something to say.

It is hard to not get caught up in the story, in the characters and their plight. It is hard to not keep going on about Lawrence as Katniss. The audience love her, the people love her: she is the girl whos purity and bravery sparks a revolution. I have to confess that I have not read the books, but I really want to. Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) and Liam Hemsworth (Gale) are both excellent as the men Katniss is caught between: her real love and her media love. Who will she end up with in the end?

Peeta and Katniss are celebrities but also icons. They empower the people and pay the price. Peeta, Katniss and Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) make an excellent team, bonded together through what can only be described post-traumatic-stress-disorder. Katniss wakes Peeta up by screaming as she wakes up from a nightmare, he comes into her room: ‘It’s okay’, he says, ‘I get them too.’ Even Effie (Elizabeth Banks), that vacuous idiot, can barely take the injustice, finds her conscious and her feelings.

Donald Sutherland is excellent as President Snow and Machiavellian media chief Philip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant and full of depth. I was also pleased with myself as I saw the twist before it happened. The film is relevant, gripping and worthy. In fact the only bad thing I have to say is that it ended far too quickly and I have no idea how I am going to wait an entire year for the next installment.

Five stars.

In Fear Film Review

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In Fair Film ReviewThe backroads and woods of rural Ireland open up to steady and relentless menace in this

psychological horror thriller, the debut feature of writer and director Jeremy Lovering. The basic

setup is familiar and uncomplicated; Lucy and Tom (Alice Englert and Iain De Caestecker), a

young couple in the first weeks of a burgeoning relationship, are travelling to a secluded hotel

for the evening on their way to a music festival. However as night descends and their directions

start to lead them in circles, the two of them become hopelessly lost before realizing that they

may not be alone…

Eschewing a standard format for what seems like very familiar material in the horror genre,

Lovering has taken the bold move of denying his two leads a set script. The actors were provided

with a brief outline of what direction individual scenes would take but were left unaware

of what exactly would occur. Improvisation and surprise are the driving forces here. It’s a

directorial stroke that provides the film with a fresh feel despite the well worn setting. It shows

particularly in the performances of the two leads whose increasing paranoia and discomfort is

entirely convincing. Even before the scares start their portrayal of a burgeoning relationship, all

uncertainty and stubbornness, gives their predicament an incredibly believable air. This is helped

by the increasingly claustrophobic direction as open roads give way to the sweaty, grimy interior

of the couples car. This culminates in one tremendously unsettling scene, which Lovering takes

his time letting the penny drop for the characters to realize just how dire their situation is. It’s the

directorial equivalent of twisting the knife.

The novel approach that Lovering and his collaborators take is welcome to a narrative that does

at times stray towards the predictable. An early confrontation with hostile locals is a nice nod

towards Straw Dogs, but as we go from winding roads to useless maps, low petrol and rising

tempers there is the nagging feeling that we’re going through a checklist of horror tropes. Some

hardcore genre fans may perhaps even find themselves moaning as characters make decisions

and take actions that only characters in horror films would make. Some may also find the final

act somewhat anticlimactic, though the final shot really encapsulates the idea of a never ending

pursuit and terror. Whatever flaws In Fear may have, its expert direction and performances give

it the edge that it needs to stand out in clogged up market of British horror cinema. On the basis

of this, Lovering may prove to be a director to watch.

How To Survive A Plague | Film Review

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Nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary feature earlier this year, How To Survive A Plague arrives on these shores this week. With a engrossing yet intimate scope, the film examines the outbreak of the AIDS virus in the 1980’s and specifically its impact in Greenwich Village, New York. Faced with underwhelming medical advancement and indifferent political reaction, a diverse group of young men and women facing almost certain death banded together to found activist group ACT UP. Refusing to die quietly, they took their plight and struggle into the public domain and doggedly began a chain reaction that would turn AIDS from being nearly hundred percent lethal into a manageable disease. Director David France employs a wealth of archive footage and interviews with surviving activists to tell this remarkable story.

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Rather than settle for a standard talking head format that many documentary features use, France takes the bold approach of solely using existing archival footage for the vast majority of the films running time. Nearly 700 hours of home videos, news reports,testimonial footage and art protest videos have been whittled down to just under two with contemporary interview audio layered over the soundtrack. This approach reminded me of the brilliant documentary Senna, which also employed little seen existing footage to fill in for contemporary replacements. Like that films director, France realizes that he has an absolute goldmine at his disposal and that the images alone speak volumes. The confrontation between activist Bob Rafsky and then senator Bill Clinton is well documented enough (‘I feel your pain’). But there are numerous stirring and even jaw dropping scenes of protests, rallies, and interviews that convey the monumental struggle in all of its resilience. Ugly undercurrents of homophobia saw many victims of the disease meet indifference or outright hostility from what should in theory be American societies most supportive institutions; the healthcare industry and the Catholic church. One extraordinary sequence focuses on a mass ‘die in’ protest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral as protesters called out the church’s dismissal of condoms and the AIDS crisis altogether.

 

In the midst of the drama and tragedies that defined the era, France never loses focus of the figures at the centre of all of this. As the film reaches its later stages we are treated to a more conventional talking head interview format with surviving activists but this change in style is fully justified by the emotional arc that they, and in course the audience, have been on by that point. This was not simply a fight for political and social rights; it was a battle for life itself with no room for compromise. Many moments captured on camera here are raw and emotionally devastating. A rally culminating with the ashes of AIDS victims scattered across the White House lawn is utterly heartbreaking. If there is a crescendo to the grief and anguish of this generation, it comes from acclaimed playwright Larry Kramer silencing a group of squabbling, divided activists. ‘Plague! We are in the middle of a plague!’ he bellows. His voice cuts through the discourse and chills to the bone of the audience.  It’s a statement that sums up the battle that this community had to face together, and one that they overcame with unity, humour and dignity. It’s a statement, and a cause, that deserves to be heard and remembered and this film is brilliant testament to that.

I Play With The Phrase Each Other | 21st Raindance Film Festival

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raindance film festival, 21, filmJay Alvarez’ debut feature is being heralded as a genuine first; the first film to be composed entirely of phone calls between characters. With a micro budget obtained via crowdsourcing and Craigslist sales, the filmmakers collaborated with a group of friends, family and first time actors in the Portland area where filming took place. In line with its niche, contemporary framing device the film was shot on an Iphone. It centres primarily on Jake (Will Hand), a young neurotic tempted to the big city by his old friend Sean (Alvarez), a wannabe poet. Sean’s life is far from comfortable and wholesome; he lives in a squalid flat and earns his money by conning naive Internet shoppers. When Jake arrives to find Sean missing and uncontactable he struggles to fit in to the cities bleak, nocturnal landscape as the lengthy phone conversations in each scene detail strained relationships with distant friends, former lovers and forgotten family.

 

On first impressions, I Play With The Phrase Each Other sounds like its central premise would be an obstacle to connecting with it. There is the danger of being too distant to engage or the incredibly lo-fi shooting style proving too amateurish. Thankfully on a filmmaking level every penny of the fund raising  has paid off. Filmed in a stark monochrome against a backdrop of recession stricken America, the film relentlessly probes the nights and urban decay of the characters environment. I was reminded of In Search Of A Midnight Kiss and, to a lesser extent, Clerks in its visual style.  Production value and cinematography are terrific and show off the filmmakers skills with such limited resources. Along with  the Web Fest also taking place at Raindance this year, its films like this which really show off the advancing availability of resources and technology to today’s independent filmmakers.

 

Alvarez claims that the films unique structure is ‘ an announcement of youngness’ and that it would ‘scream our modern nausea’.  It’s a bold claim that does initially strike very effectively. There’s a swift flow to the opening passages of the film as we are introduced to the key players and the framing device of phone calls creates a sense of distortion and isolation that feels frighteningly contemporary. An early shot boosts a central character’s bookshelf comprised of Hemingway, Thompson and Heller. There’s no disguising the scripts incredibly literary background; the dialogue is at once profane and witty with a fine line of pathos running throughout.  Where things do begin to falter somewhat is in the meandering manner of the conversations themselves. Alvarez throws such a large group of characters into the mix that it starts to become difficult to keep track of who is who and more worryingly, who to care about. Characters discuss everything from employment to sexuality, media and the economy yet only a small amount of it sticks. Characters are introduced then dropped completely  just as they are starting to become engaging or memorable.  The cast of unknowns and first time actors do an extremely impressive job with the material that does work and lingers in the mind. One notable example is hustler Jamario, played with a volatile mix of humour and intimidation by ‘Big Dogg’, an acquaintance of the director. Its a piece of casting that rings with utter authenticity.  Another is an unnamed retail manager portrayed by Robert Thrush, featuring in a running series of deadpan vignettes before a climactic and  lengthy voice message plays out across a tight close up. Its a beautiful yet uncomfortable scene that really gets to the heart of the notion of disconnect via modern communication. The film is desperately crying out for other scenes of this immediacy and tenderness.

 

All in all I Play With The Phrase Each Other is an eye catching debut and certainly bodes well for Jay Alvarez. Although ultimately it may be a film that is easier to admire than to love.

 

 

R.I.P.D Film Review

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Concept films either work or they don’t. Luckily R.I.P.D takes a fresh and original idea and runs with it. The film is funny and Ryan Reynolds is a great comedic actor with excellent comic timing, delivering his lines with aplomb. Jeff Bridges is a legendary comic actor. If you don’t believe me then just watch the Big Lebowski. He plays his comedy straighter in R.I.P.D, playing a lawman who died in the 1800s and was eaten by coyotes. (You’ll get it when you see the film)

Laugh out loud funny, the film has a clever plot and great characters. I found it hugely entertaining.

Spoiler Alert

Ryan Reynolds stars as a recently murdered cop who joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department. This supernatural comedy film directed by Robert Schwentke is based on the comic book Rest in Peace Department by Peter M. Lenkov.

The fact that Reynolds and Bridges appear to the outside living world as an ‘old Chinese man’ and a beautiful blonde woman brings more comedy. Reynolds is still grieving his life. He misses his wife and he had an attack of conscious after taking and burying the gold he took with his crooked partner, after telling his partner, played by Kevin Bacon, that he is going to turn it in, his partner shoots and kills him. Unable to let go, he goes to his own funeral and tries to make contact with his wife.

The gold has significance and it is left to Reynolds and Bridges to save the world. Will they do it? Well, you’ll have fun finding out.

Four out of five stars.

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Elysium {Film Review}

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I have always admired and been inspired by South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp. He immigrated to Canada at the age of 18 and graduated with 3D Animation and Visual Effects program from Vancouver Film School in 1998. He became a 3D animator on various TV shows such as Stargate SG-1 and Smallville. Then he started creating short films in his home country, starting with Tetra Vaal in 2004, Alive in Joburg in 2005 and Adicolor Yellow in 2006. Blomkamp was hired to make a film adaptation of Halo with Peter Jackson but the project fell apart due to financial disagreements. So Jackson decided to give Blomkamp an opportunity many filmmakers would dream of; he was given $30 million to come up with any film project he wanted to make. That film turned out to be 2009’s sleeper hit, District 9. The film received rave reviews from critics and was nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture and 7 BAFTA nominations including Best Film and Best Director to Blomkamp. Now Blomkamp gives us first original sci-fi feature film, Elysium.

 

The story is set in 2154 Los Angeles, where the city is over-populated, health care is scarce and vast majority of the population are Mexican immigrants. Meanwhile, the wealthy live on an orbital space station called Elysium. There the air is fresh, served by obedient androids and robots and free of disease, poverty and war. They also have Med-Pods, a medical device where it can cure many diseases such as cancer. Max De Costa (Matt Damon) an orphan who has left his life of crime to work at a factory run by Armadyne Corporation who is owned by a billionaire CEO John Carlyle (William Fichtner). One day, Max gets himself into an accident at the factory by being exposed to radiation and only has 5 days to live. Max now sets his eyes at Elysium and plans to get himself cured. This raises awareness of Elysium Secretary of Defense, Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster), and she hires a sleeper agent named Kruger (Sharlto Copley).

 

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The film is magnificent in scope and ambition. Blomkamp continues to bring social themes on class, immigration and even health care to his sci-fi blockbusters. It really is admirable that he decides to give the movie a lot more meat than what it really is on the surface. It was one of the main aspects I admired and adored with District 9, the themes of xenophobia social segregation (mainly inspired by Blomkamp’s experiences of the apartheid era in Cape Town). Subtlety isn’t the director’s specialty but the themes are approached head on and therefore make them relevant to current events that are not too fictional in its setting in the future. We see Max being the only Anglo-American citizen in Los Angeles, where the city itself has no identity or has since been long forgotten.

 

Matt Damon as Max portrays him as an everyday man and thus makes him a compelling lead. He has ambitions that are not too far from our own and makes us rooting for his success. When he is placed in a life threatening situation; he acts within a heartbeat, no matter how difficult the task may be. Jodie Foster’s Jessica Delacourt isn’t much fleshed compared to Max and only serves as a plot device to make the story go forward. Her accent is a little muddled, wasn’t too sure if she’s trying to be American or English or both? Also, the ADR work is poor at times (seems her voice was changed during post-productions for reasons that are not so clear). Though Sharlto Copley is the scene stealer of this movie as Kruger! He couldn’t be any different from his character in District 9; he is brutal but utterly entertaining to watch. He is absolutely relishing his job as a gun-for-hire and he will do anything to get the job done. It is quite refreshing to have a South African villain rather than being English, American or European in general. The rest of the cast do decent jobs in their roles; Alice Braga as Frey brings the heart to the story but like Foster’s character, isn’t fleshed out and comes off being the damsel-in-distress. The only downside of the movie is it’s slightly predictable where the movie is going but it doesn’t detract the quality of the movie as a whole.

Blomkamp is known to create photorealistic visuals and he continues that look in this film. It is absolutely gorgeous and richly detailed. Inspired by works of Syd Mead, concept artist who worked on designs for Blade Runner and Aliens. The film never once felt too futuristic, it all felt everything worked with a purpose and it didn’t need much to suspend your disbelief. The space station of Elysium does remind me of similar looking space station in Halo video game series but also had a mix of 2001: A Space Odyssey flavour to it. The visual effects for the cyborg robots looked stunning, every frame and pixel looked immaculate. The action sequences are intense but do have a sense the director likes to blow people up (a lot!). Though the director doesn’t shy away from the violence, every ounce of blood that is spilled is counted for and makes you feel every impact that is made. There’s even a scene where a character is put on a machine and it drew me in with fascination but also finding it very gruesome (will bring the meaning of reconstructive surgery).

 

Overall: another hit from director Neill Blomkamp. Doesn’t quite deliver up to the same level as District 9 but it’s another fascinating sci-fi/action movie that may cause some discussions (or debates). Incredibly exciting, beautiful visuals and the actors deliver great performances. Favourite movie of the summer. Highly recommended!

 

4 out of 5

Changing Hands Film Review

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indexChanging Hands is a terrific new short film comedy written and directed by Sarah Gordon, and produced with backing from the National Film and Television school. Taking the form of a mockumentary, it follows director and wannabe cinematic genius Kevin Perkins (Dominic Allen), as he embarks on an ambitious new project. Venturing into ‘the most average areas of Britain’, Perkins hopes to discover how the lives of several young men and women from various social backgrounds have been shaped by their parents and upbringings, and what paths their lives have taken. This proves to be a more challenging task that he planned…

Running at a brisk running time of just under half an hour, Changing Hands wastes no time in establishing its influences and tone. The work of Christopher Guest (This Is Spinal Tap) looms large over the proceedings though there are also echos of the incredibly dry wit of Alan Bennett. Thankfully the unique brand of characters and settings do keep the proceedings very fresh. Despite the seemingly meandering tones that the faux talking head interviews take on, the pacing is incredibly brisk and light footed, with the comedic timing of both writer and performers spot on. We whisk through an array of eccentric characters from a pair of pretentious would-be musicians to a preschool teacher with yearnings for Shakespeare. There’s that unique sense of quiet desperation and disappointment underlying the interviews that I’ve always felt is quite unique to British comedy. Or at least British comedy at its finest. Some of the material is cringe comedy in the best possible sense. Each segment is pitched at just the right length; each individual character has a lasting impression yet the writing knows never to over indulge or linger too long.

I had the fortune to meet the writer and director Gordon at a screening at the BFI Southbank. Though our discussion was brief we talked about the influences that had been brought to the project as well as it’s inception. With the idea in place, crowdsourcing funding was used in order to obtain the budget. A brief ‘proposal’ video was created to get backers interest once a script and performers were lined up. It was apparently a quick and efficient process that marks an exciting and unique time for budding filmmakers, where finance and resources are now so readily available from both professional and private services. As she put it to me, ‘you can now pretty much make a film on a phone’. It certainly helped to have such a supportive and creative body as the NFT involved in the project. Changing Hands will have a wider release at upcoming national film festivals before Gordon commences production of another comedic short this winter. On the basis of this, it will be well worth checking out.