The critical and commercial successes of The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook have made David O. Russell is a major name to look for in awards season now. American Hustle will be one of the major contenders this winter and the number one reason is that it features one hell of a cast made up of Russell regulars Bale, Cooper, Lawrence and Adams. The Abscam Sting of the 1970s is a juicy story and, judging from the trailer, this cast and crew is going to make a winner out of it.
Showing posts with label bradley cooper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bradley cooper. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
The critical and commercial successes of The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook have made David O. Russell is a major name to look for in awards season now. American Hustle will be one of the major contenders this winter and the number one reason is that it features one hell of a cast made up of Russell regulars Bale, Cooper, Lawrence and Adams. The Abscam Sting of the 1970s is a juicy story and, judging from the trailer, this cast and crew is going to make a winner out of it.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
It is said that the path to hell is paved with good intentions. In this tale of fathers and sons, hell just may be the best they can hope for.
Luke (Ryan Gosling) lives his life completely uninhibited as a stunt rider in a traveling carnival. Luke being introduced by his profession is an important note, his trade is not a spectator sport for its grace, people watch Luke because each time he steps into that cage, he could die.
This evening in Schenectady is like any other, that is, until he sees Romina (Eva Mendes). The two had a brief, but passionate fling and he hasn't seen her since. He wants to reach out, though it's too little, too late. Luke drops Romina off, yet something keeps him from leaving town. He comes back the next day to find a son he never knew about. The moment he found out he was a father, Luke quits the road.
Money is hard to come by for an out-of-work carnie, he is taken in by an auto mechanic (Ben Mendehlson). Robin has only seen talent like Luke's maybe a handful of times, he rides like lightning. Robin has robbed four banks before, and he stopped before he got caught. He offers his system to Luke, if he wants to provide for his new family, he can do it quickly.
Robbing banks comes with its own set of circumstances. Luke isn't just riding in a steel cage anymore, the ride is not choreographed, and those men waiting for him will put him in prison. Men like Officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).
There is a speed at which movement is impossible to comprehend and the eye is just frantically throwing pieces together. Some would complain that everything is a blur, but the visceral thrill from taking everything at the speed Luke sees is unmatched in white-knuckle intensity. Sean Bobbitt captures these chase scenes beautifully.
Place Beyond the Pines shifts narrative focus several times over the course of the film. Once finished with Luke's story, Derek Cianfrance places Avery under his scope. Avery starts out as a beat cop, but with his family pedigree (his father is a former Supreme Court Justice), that won't be the case for long. If he is to do so, he must navigate the waters of his department, waters filled with sharks like Lt. DeLuca (if there is a face that suggests a lack of morality more than Ray Liotta's, I haven't seen it).
Are some just predetermined to be successes or fuck-ups? Jason (Dane Dehaan) never knew his father, but the paths he and A.J. Cross (Emory Cohen) are about to cross will irrevocably change both families.
Cianfrance could have coasted off the success of Blue Valentine, but with Place Beyond the Pines, he delivers a much more ambitious picture. Instead of capturing the love built and lost between a husband and wife, Cianfrance sweeps the camera over a city and generations of men who enforce the law, men who break it, and those for whom that line is grey.
It's not an indictment, but a well-acted display of whether or not our lives are determined by fate, or our own choices.
****
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Friday, December 21, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Of all the franchises in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles have the most impassioned fanbase. Wins move the entire city, a loss, particularly at Dallas, could ruin an entire Sunday. Eagles fans' well-being depend on a winning season. The Solitanos are such a family.
Pal Solitano (Bradley Cooper) has no control over the things that come out of his mouth. Everyone is guilty of having their mental filter go on the fritz, but Pat's is permanently stuck on off. He's been working on self-improvement at the clinic he was court-appointed to following a violent conflict between himself, his wife and her lover. His mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver) has decided that eight months is long enough and brings Pat back home.
Pat has a game-plan toward getting his life back in order: get in shape, get his old job and get his wife back. Nikki has since moved on and as a gesture of good faith, filed a restraining order against him. Despite what his friends tell him, he is quite happy in his delusions.
In an effort to get Pat readjusted, his buddy invites him to dinner with his wife and her sister, Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence).
From their first meeting Tiffany gets Pat, when most people in a room step back from him, she steps forward. Pat is hesitant to ingratiate himself with Tiffany, she's loose with her body and Pat needs to maintain with Nikki that he is above such behavior. Oblivious to Pat, Tiffany has her own problems. Since her husband's death she has been an inconsolable mess, any contact she can get, she takes.
While it is immediately clear to the audience that Tiffany and Pat are kindred spirits, he needs convincing. Tiffany slyly offers a deal: be her dance partner and she will pass along his letters to Nikki, in an effort to convince her to get back together.
With Pat spending so much time at Tiffany's, Pat Sr. (Robert DeNiro, on a streak after Being Flynn) just wants his namesake to sit alongside him Sunday afternoon and take in a game with his old man. Each passing week, Pat Sr. puts a little more money on each game, with his son as his good luck charm, he can't go wrong.
Bradley Cooper is one of those familiar faces recognized from parts as the sidekick and the aggressive boyfriend, but he never really broke out. With his performance as the at times lucid and at others raging Pat, Cooper has announced that he has taken that step into the next tier of leading men.
David O. Russell has a knack for capturing dysfunctional familial units. His most recent effort, The Fighter, garnered him an Academy Award nod for the first time, but, despite the quirk of brothers Micky and Dicky, the the film was ultimately viewed as a workman effort. Silver Linings however comes right out of the auteur's wheelhouse. Russell adapted and directed the film, adding alterations to the story that ultimately result in a tighter, better film.
The popular knock against Silver Linings Playbook is that the film lacks awareness when it comes to mental illness. That conclusion obfuscates the trying moments that Pat Sr. and Dolores combat with after he comes home from the hospital. Russell's film is more or less about capturing the daily highs and lows of Pat and Tiffany's issues. Not every living moment for a person with an illness is wrenched in agony.
Silver Linings destigmatizes disorders in a way that most films just don't care to. Like the Solitano's home, it invites you in.
***1/2 out of ****
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