This movie’s already been talked to death, but what’s one more bloviating blogger to the mix?
What Works: In this tale of con-men, corrupt politicians, mobbed-up casinos, and a loose canon FBI agent who will break every rule to expose corruption (yet the paradox of this is lost on him) anything feels like it can happen at any moment. We’re watching close ups of Christian Bale’s neurotic con-man apply his elaborate combover or Bradley Cooper curling his 70’s fro or Jennifer Lawrence fall off a stool laughing and the movie is alive with spontaneity.
However, the real soul of the movie is the excellent performances: Lawrence nails a certain type of “bad news” single mom while Cooper masters the thin line between passion and insanity he first explored in Silver Linings Playbook. [Lawrence and Cooper’s old SLP co-star Robert DeNiro has an inspired cameo as an even more intimidating variation on his old mobsters, while Louis C.K. also acquits himself nicely as a straight-laced FBI superior.] Then there’s company new man Jeremy Renner (the only main cast member never to work with David O. Russell before), who is the unexpected soul of the movie: his “dirty” politician is the most likable person on screen. Still, the best performances come from Bale doing a complete 180 on anything we’ve ever seen him do (his confidence man is paradoxically riddled with anxieties and insecurities) and Amy Adams as a character who’s so ambiguous even she might not know what she’s thinking at any given moment. There’s a thin line between her calculating brain and emotional passions, but Adams plays it all with a visceral (and believable) sexuality we’ve never seen from her before.
What Doesn’t: This movie is crazier than a lot of the demographic who’ll be watching it will really want it to be. Anyone expecting a straight-laced following of the true life events this movie is loosely based on will be surprised and perhaps frustrated. It’s a film about desperadoes trying to one-up each other (and themselves), and the film’s theme of transformation might be lost on some.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Who knows? Let’s just be glad this film is out there, and David O. Russell is thoroughly at the top of his game and now making movies with more frequency.