American Hustle

I was really struggling to keep my concentration for this. At one point I considered walking out. I think you could cut out about an hour from the middle and lose nothing, because nothing happened. It manages a few chuckles but there's no plot! They just tried to cram as many A-listers in as they could and gave them absolutely nothing to do! They have the set up at the beginning and then basically abandon it until the end. There's no build up. It's a poor man's Boogie Nights. Just rewatch that!

I was just absolutely not on this movie's wavelength almost from minute one. It's well-made in terms of performances and cinematography and editing, but the actual story it told and the characters involved just laid on screen like a dead fish for me. I saw this a few days after Wolf of Wall Street, a movie an hour longer, and this one somehow felt TWICE as long as Wolf. I was squirming and praying for it to end by the time the credits hit. If I'd been watching at home I would have turned it off.

Amy Adams And Jennifer Lawrence In Sexy 70's Dresses And Oh Yeah I Guess There's Also a Story Somewhere But We Forgot To Try And Make You Care Whoops But Everyone ACTS And Has Weird Hair So That's Cool Right?

My biggest problem is that there is no unspoken symbolism in the movie. Everything is discussed in case the audience has been so mesmerized by the hair and performances. I was so entranced that when Jennifer Lawrence talks about her nail polish being beautiful but rotten underneath, I made no connection until Jennifer Lawrence later told me that the nail polish was like the characters! Now I get it. Thanks moving pictures, you never let me fall behind.

So astoundingly contrived. A movie you will not remember in 6 months. You can tell that the script wasn't really panned out --- way too much crappy improvising. Russell was more in love with the sets then the story but I guess it's normal for a Boomer to jerk off about the 70's. Desperately wants to be Scorsese or even PTA but just fails miserably. Really can't understand the hype for Russell's last two films. Also, Jack Huston looks weird with an entire face.