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AMERICAN MEN HUSTLING MONUMENTS
Mar. 11th, 2014 11:18 amIt’s been a slow start to the year, movie-wise, but here are the first two new releases I’ve managed to see.
The Monuments Men
George Clooney directs this film (based on a true story, you know) about a group of art scholars who went to Europe during WW2 to rescue and preserve classic works of art before either the Nazis (and/or the Russians) could steal them or the Allies could (accidentally) bomb them.
Maybe it’s because I went in with high expectations – brilliant cast, and Clooney generally makes really good films – but somehow the film fell short. It feels a bit bare-bones – there’s enough to get the story across, but not really enough to get into the characters. I can’t help feeling that there should have been more here than there is – especially given all the names on it.
That said, the cast makes it fun to watch, and credit to Clooney borrowing visually from the classic ensemble war films of the 60s, even if The Monuments Men isn’t quite as good as any of them.
American Hustle
David O. Russell’s fictional version of the ABSCAM sting of the early 80s, in which con artists Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser are coerced by an FBI agent to run a sting operation against potentially corrupt mayor Carmine Polito.
People have thrown around comparisons to GoodFellas and Casino, but that’s a bit lazy – American Hustle is very much its own film. And there’s a lot to like about this, mainly the acting, which is impressive all around. Also, while ABSCAM is a worthy topic for a film, Russell plays it smart by not only writing a fictionalized version of events (which gives him free reign with the storyline and characters), but also doesn’t pretend otherwise like most Hollywood docudramas often do (see: Argo).
That said, American Hustle has two things going against it: (1) hair that is ridiculous to the point of distraction, and (2) it gets too bogged down in relationship melodrama from time to time, particularly in the middle of the film. But overall, it’s pretty good.
Gimme a head with hair,
This is dF
The Monuments Men
George Clooney directs this film (based on a true story, you know) about a group of art scholars who went to Europe during WW2 to rescue and preserve classic works of art before either the Nazis (and/or the Russians) could steal them or the Allies could (accidentally) bomb them.
Maybe it’s because I went in with high expectations – brilliant cast, and Clooney generally makes really good films – but somehow the film fell short. It feels a bit bare-bones – there’s enough to get the story across, but not really enough to get into the characters. I can’t help feeling that there should have been more here than there is – especially given all the names on it.
That said, the cast makes it fun to watch, and credit to Clooney borrowing visually from the classic ensemble war films of the 60s, even if The Monuments Men isn’t quite as good as any of them.
American Hustle
David O. Russell’s fictional version of the ABSCAM sting of the early 80s, in which con artists Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser are coerced by an FBI agent to run a sting operation against potentially corrupt mayor Carmine Polito.
People have thrown around comparisons to GoodFellas and Casino, but that’s a bit lazy – American Hustle is very much its own film. And there’s a lot to like about this, mainly the acting, which is impressive all around. Also, while ABSCAM is a worthy topic for a film, Russell plays it smart by not only writing a fictionalized version of events (which gives him free reign with the storyline and characters), but also doesn’t pretend otherwise like most Hollywood docudramas often do (see: Argo).
That said, American Hustle has two things going against it: (1) hair that is ridiculous to the point of distraction, and (2) it gets too bogged down in relationship melodrama from time to time, particularly in the middle of the film. But overall, it’s pretty good.
Gimme a head with hair,
This is dF
