American Hustle

Sometimes we build up films, books or music in our heads before it gets released. Heaping more and more pressure on to whatever it is we are waiting for. Anticipation is not a bad thing most of the time, however, if it goes unchecked or is increased by outside influences, then it can lead to severe disappointments. Something that can make even a passable or good piece of art, look like a load of rubbish.

American Hustle loosely, and I mean loosely, tells the story of the Abscam scandal in the late seventies in America, in which a number of politicians were arrested in a sting operation by the FBI. That however, is more of a backdrop for what is, essentially a character piece. Our main characters are two con artists and an FBI agent looking to make a name for himself.

As it is a character piece, it‘s driven and interested more on the characters and performances than anything else and top of the list is Christian Bale. This is, to put it out there right now, one of Bale’s best performances ever, as Irving Rosenfeld the experienced con man who is forced into the FBI operation for reasons I won’t go into here.

Where other performances verge on parody or awards baiting, Bale keeps it understated, realising that with the already substantial amount of hair and make up he has on, that he too could become nothing more than a joke. Not only are his big scenes quite often the films strongest moments, he also manages to lift the smaller scenes, even when he may not have anything to say, with nothing more than a look.  This performance is the stand out reason for seeing this film.

With such a rich story and setting, it is a sad aspect of the film that the plot is pushed to the side. Yes, the performances are good, but they hardly drive the film forward. You could easily divide the films scenes up into two categories. Character and Plot quite easily. Despite the clear preference for character scenes, if is more often that not the more plot based scenes that are the best. Which makes it a shame that the ratio is heavily favoured the other way.

A quick note on the music, something that is often a strength of David O Russell’s films, he uses it to build the world and period, but also matches them perfectly to the scenes or sequences we are watching. The club scene between Adams and Cooper is made to feel even more intense and euphoric with the O Russell’s perfect choice of song. The deliberately cheesy early montage of Bale and Adams rise to prominence is a cheesy delight.

Some have argued that American Hustle is all style and no substance, that to me is an unfair and quite frankly inaccurate criticism to lay at this films feet. As it is a period piece, it will naturally attract comments on how it looks and if that attention to detail was at the expense of other parts of the film. With the characters it certainly wasn’t a detriment to them. But as mentioned, the lack of plot hurts the film and doesn’t leave you thinking about the film once the film has ended, which The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook did for me.

The easiest way for me to sum up this film is Scorsese light, it definitely takes inspiration from Casino and Goodfellas in particular, as far as films to have as an influence, these two are arguably the best to take ideas or visuals from.

Come awards time, I am sure we will see American Hustle dominate in all categories, but it will be acting categories where its greatest chance lies, in particular Christian Bale. Next to better-plotted films, such as Captain Phillips, it will be interesting to see how it fairs in the screenplay award, to see if the preference is character or plot.

By no means a bad film, more a victim of its own hype.

Man of Steel

Superman has always been my number two comic book hero, and in all honesty will probably always occupy that spot behind Batman. In terms of films, Superman has largely lagged behind Batman, only really offering two great additions to the genre (Superman The Movie and Superman 2), but with Man of Steel, the creative team behind The Dark Knight trilogy and Zack Snyder aim to help the first ever superhero to close that gap and take his place at the top table.

In Man of Steel, we follow Clark Kent from his birth on Krypton amidst a military coup, his journey through space, his formative years in Smallville and his search across the globe to find out who his biological parents and he was sent to Earth. Meanwhile, the events of Krypton, which I won’t spoil, ultimately leads General Zod to Earth in search of Kal El.

It’s a big role to fill in the eyes of both the general public and the more hardcore fan, but Henry Cavill has taken on the role of Superman (although he is only referred to as this once in the whole film, and apologetically at that) and truly making it his own, by taking the core elements of the character and updating it for the current time. One of the most original aspects of the portrayal, as well as the way the character is written, is his loneliness and growing isolation with the people of earth. This is something that wasn’t touched upon by any of the previous films, but is a key part the of best Superman stories (Kingdom Come by Mark Waid is a key text for the subject). But the journey through the film that Clark/Kal takes is the one of the most enjoyable and rich origin stories ever put to film.

Although, not all of Clarks character arc falls on the very strong shoulders of Cavill. Cooper Timberline and Dylan Sprayberry are the two young actors (who play a 9 and 13 year old Kal El) who have some major scenes that really shape the viewers opinions on Clark and are instrumental in gaining their sympathies and support.

Both have a key scene with one of the Kent’s, Timberline has a scene with Diane Lane, some of which was seen in the trailers, where she has to talk him down after some of his powers suddenly manifest themselves and he begins hearing everyone’s voices. Sprayberry spends more time with Costner’s Jonathan Kent, including a scene that features the infamous “maybe” line. It’s in these scenes that we see the difficult upbringing and childhood that Clark had, as he fought against his powers and his parents tried to keep them a secret to keep him safe.

The structure Man of Steel follows a similar structure to Batman Begins, with the first half cutting back and forth between three of four timelines, introducing a number of plot threads, which then breaks into the single driving events of the second half. This last half and everything that is at stake all comes as a result of the various triumphs and tragedies that have led Clark Kent to this point.

With all comic book films, a lot of responsibility lies on the shoulders of the villain. No matter how good your hero is, if he has no one struggle with or test him, then there is no tension or true stakes. Luckily for Man of Steel, Michael Shannon is on his best form, not only is he threatening and dangerous, but in a warped way his reasoning is completely understandable. He is the hero of his own story. His sole purpose is to protect Krypton and he is willing and capable of doing anything to make that happen. Shannon goes from calm and methodical, to crazed and emotional effortlessly, more remarkably, none of these transitions feel forced, but give us a fully rounded, almost sympathetic villain.

It’s no surprise that the story starts on Krypton, the original Superman did and so it feels only natural that the next version of his origin should once again begin there. That, apart from the destruction and Kal El being sent into space, is where the similarities end.

This sequence is amazing; it condenses so much history and social structure into ten or fifteen minutes, along with several action sequences that will leave you wanting more. This is down to the interplay between Crowe and Shannon, as well as Ayelet Zurer (Lara Lor Van, Kal El’s mother), which hints at a long and interesting relationship, twisted by differing ethics and morals, but united by a common understanding of Krypton’s fate.

Lois Lane can draw a similar response as Catwoman from some viewers, you either get the character and her interpretation, or you actively rebel against it, finding them clichéd as they try to force a strong woman into a male dominated narrative. With Amy Adams performance, we don’t get any of the irritating or helpless heroine that at times has plagued the character.

But instead we get a strong, independent journalist who you could see travelling the globe, searching out stories and chasing down this one of a guardian angel. In future films, this role and relationship with Clark is going to grow and could easily become one of the strengths of the series.

Man of Steel is huge, in fact that is a bit of an understatement, it’s an epic that spans not only our planet, but also other planets and another dimension. One of the criticisms of Superman Returns was that there wasn’t enough action, which is a fair criticism of that film, Man of Steel doesn’t make that mistake, it goes big, real big. The battle of Smallville is probably the highlight as we finally get to see Kal El’s powers in full force on screen. Buildings are torn apart, trains thrown through the air and fighter jets brought down left and right. Although, this seems to be a bit much for some people, who have found the level of action and violence in points to be too much, skewing the other way in terms of action content. It seems that some people can’t be satisfied.

This film is as much about Clark and his life going forward, as it is the story of his parents, all four of them. Of the three that Clark meets and talks to, they all pull him in different directions, offering their guidance and viewpoints, but never telling Clark what to do. They let him decide what he wants to, to aspire to be whatever he wants to.

Russell Crowes Jor El is so different from Marlon Brando’s that they almost feel like different characters; the only thing they share is their love for their son and the willingness to do anything to keep him safe. This Jor El is as physically capable as he is mentally, equally adept at arguing his case with Zod and the Kryptonian council, as he is fighting off anyone who stands between him and his sons safety. Another great part of this version is that we get to spend a lot of time with him, I won’t say how, but it’s in a similar way to the crystals from the previous films. It would be fair to say that Crowe almost steals the show.

Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent may seem like one of those obvious bits of casting, and maybe it was, but it pays off for Snyder, as Jonathan becomes the voice of reason as well as the heart of film, who above all wants Clark to be safe. I could go on about this performance, but watch the ‘Tornado’ sequence, a largely dialogue free scene, that shows Jonathan Kent at his most important and Costner at his best.

The easiest way I can sum up this film is in two quick comments, firstly I am going to go and see this film again as soon as I can and secondly, GO AND SEE THIS FILM NOW. This film will sit along side The Dark Knight Trilogy, and hopefully spawn sequels of a similar quality, in spite of an apparent craving for a Justice League film.

Believe in Superman, he is definitely back to his best.

The Master

Paul Thomas Anderson has quite frankly never made a bad film, he may have only made five, three of which could easily be described as modern masterpieces, I am referring to Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood. This back catalogue of work had me desperate to go and see his most recent film, religious/cult based drama The Master. I left the cinema in a state of utter confusion, even now I don’t know if I like it, or hate it. It will divide people, there will be no middle ground on this film. It is gruelling at points and offers little to no obvious answers or conclusions to it’s nearly two and a half hour run time.

Let’s start with the positive, all of the performances are superb and will surely garner numerous nominations for Joaquin Phoenix (Leading Actor), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Supporting Actor) and Amy Adams (Supporting Female). Phoenix’s Freddie Quell is the World War Two veteran who struggles to find any kind of direction is life, more than happy to just drink have sex and fight. His physical ordeals are visible on his face and in the contorted way that he walks and moves, this is a man literally twisted and disfigured by what he has seen and done.

Hoffman plays Lancaster Dodd, the head of religion/cult/belief system (I won’t give away their methods or beliefs) called ‘The Cause’ , who comes across Quell when he stows aboard a boat and gets very drunk. Dodd is a man who fully believes in what he preaches, has all the answers and who controls the actions of many people, but cannot stand to be challenged, this roars to the surface at several points throughout the film, usually bringing a shock of both the recipient and anyone close by. Adams plays his wife, who it could be argued is the real driving force behind Dodd and the one who wants to protect everything that they have worked for and towards all these years. She wants to keep Dodd and ‘The Cause’ free from harm, which arguably it could be say is added to by Quell and his arrival.

Visually, the film is stunning, as with all of his previous films there is a beauty and artistic way that each shot if framed, much in the same way that Kubrick did, especially in something like Barry Lyndon. I was unable to see it on the 70mm print due to location, but even without that visuals still stand up. In a time when shaky camera work and found footage is becoming more and more popular, it is refreshing to see a director and cinematographer (Mihai Malaimare Jr.) take their time and show us just how good film can be with a static camera.

The biggest fault that will be found with The Master is with it’s lack of traditional narrative that drives the film. In fact, there is barely any story really within the film, instead focusing entirely on the characters. This is sometimes a strength, but for the length of this film, it really does need more of narrative, not necessarily making it plot heavy, just a narrative, perhaps relating to the outside world and it’s view of “The Cause”, which is something we rarely see, or a goal for them to work towards in justifying themselves to the wider world.

At times the film is hard to watch, it’s pacing is very slow and asks you to try and move through this very opaque and blurry film, filled with complex and damaged characters. At times you will feel frustrated and it’s at this point where you will have to decide whether or not to stick out, or turn off the DVD (when it comes out) or leave the cinema. I stayed, but there were a few that left during my screening.