American Hustle
Film Review by Kam Williams
In the late Seventies, a half-dozen Congressmen along with a United States Senator were caught on camera taking bribes from FBI agents posing as wealthy Arab sheiks. The elaborate sting in which the disgraced politicians became ensnared was code named Abscam, a contraction of Arab Scam.
American Hustle is a visually-dazzling retro dramedy revolving around a fictionalized account of that embarrassing chapter of the nation’s history, Set in New York and New Jersey against the gaudy backdrop of the decadent Disco Music era, the film was written and directed by David O. Russell, Hollywood’s go-to guy blessed with the golden touch in recent years.
His Silver Linings Playbook landed eight Academy Award nominations and netted Jennifer Lawrence 2013’s Best Actress Oscar. That picture arrived close on the heels of The Fighter, which had garnered seven Oscar nominations en route to trophies for both Christian Bale and Melissa Leo in acting categories.
Here, David O. has produced another engaging and entertaining production featuring a plethora of powerful performances. This one co-stars Christian Bale as con artist Irving Rosenfeld and Amy Adams as his equally-mischievous British mistress, Sydney. They play a pair of small-time crooks pressured to help the Feds catch bigger fish in order to avoid prosecution.
Reluctantly, they cooperate with Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), an ambitious, if flamboyant, FBI agent who draws attention to himself by curling his straight hair and wearing trendy clothes. Self-protective Sydney flirts shamelessly with the fashionable G-Man, feeling little loyalty towards her partner in crime who’s dragging his feet about filing for a divorce from his wife.
But when blowsy Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Jennifer Lawrence) realizes that her philandering hubby has been cheating, the trashy loudmouth decides to bring the drama, getting even by seducing a shady character (Jack Huston) she has no idea is under government surveillance. Generating great hilarity, these tawdry love triangles escalate into attention-grabbing distractions that threaten to wreck the supposedly covert operation.
Meanwhile, the naive Mayor of Camden (Jeremy Renner) is being manipulated by Irving to introduce a notorious mob boss (Robert De Niro) as well as the aforementioned corrupt politicians to Sheik Abdullah (Michael Pena). However, the hapless FBI looks more like the Keystone Cops when the agent trying to pass as an Arab can’t speak his native language when challeneged.
Who knows whether any of the ridiculous incidents recreated here ever actually transpired? But guess what? You don’t really worry about the truth when the laughs just keep coming and the witty repartee remains so inspired.
Another memorable masterpiece cleverly crafted by the oh so talented David O!
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for sexuality, pervasive profanity and brief violence.
Running time: 138 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
The 10 Best, No, the 100 Best Films of 2013
by Kam Williams
Kam’s Annual Assessment of the Cream of the Cinematic Crop
While 2013 may be remembered for black-themed films like 42, The Butler, Fruitvale Station and early Oscar favorite 12 Years a Slave, there were plenty of other excellent offerings released over the course of the year. The summer season alone featured a trio of outstanding horror flicks in The Conjuring, You’re Next and The Purge.
And fright fans were even treated to a fascinating documentary deconstructing the making of Night of the Living Dead entitled Birth of the Living Dead. The profusion of cinematic treats once again made it impossible to limit my favorites to just the 10 best.
So, as per usual, this critic’s annual list features 100 entries in order to honor as many deserving films as possible.
10 Best Big Budget Films
- The Butler
- Prisoners
- 42
- You’re Next
- Gravity
- The Purge
- 12 Years a Slave
- This Is the End
- Inside Llewyn Davis
10. American Hustle
Big Budgets Honorable Mention
11. The Heat
12. The Best Man Holiday
13. Philomena
14. Gangster Squad
15. Black Nativity
16. Fast & Furious 6
17. Jack the Giant Slayer
18. August: Osage County
19. Rush
20. The Great Gatsby
21. Olympus Has Fallen
22. Bullet to the Head
23. Saving Mr. Banks
24. Dead Man Down
25. The Conjuring
10 Best Foreign Films
- The Hunt (Denmark)
- Hannah Arendt (Germany)
- Paradise: Love (Kenya)
- Kon-Tiki (Norway)
- Aliyah (Israel)
- 2+2 (Argentina)
- The Price of Sex (Bulgaria)
- S#x Acts (Israel)
- A Hijacking (Denmark)
10. The Broken Circle Breakdown (Germany)
Foreign Films Honorable Mention
11. Three Worlds (France)
12. Sweet Dreams (Rwanda)
13. Hava Nagila (Israel)
14. Paradise: Faith (Austria)
15. The Grandmaster (China)
16. The Iran Job (Iran)
17. Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey (Nepal)
18. War Witch (Congo)
19. Paradise: Hope (Austria)
20. Rising from Ashes (Rwanda)
21. The Act of Killing (Indonesia)
22. Reality (Italy)
23. The Pirogue (Senegal)
24. Garifuna in Peril (Honduras)
25. Israel: A Home Movie (Israel)
10 Best Independent Films
- Fruitvale Station
- The Kings of Summer
- Nebraska
- Mud
- Drinking Buddies
- Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
- The Sapphires
- I Used to Be Darker
- The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete
10. Enough Said
Independent Films Honorable Mention
11. In a World…
12. Short Term 12
13. All Is Lost
14. Go for Sisters
15. Touchy Feely
16. Shadow Dancer
17. Lucky Bastard
18. Big Words
19. King’s Faith
20. Four
21. A Teacher
22. The Happy Sad
23. Mother of George
24. I’m in Love with a Church Girl
25. Finding Happiness
10 Best Documentaries
1. Stories We Tell
2. Dear Mr. Watterson
3. Best Kept Secret
4. A Place at the Table
5. Muscle Shoals
6. Unmade in China
7. 20 Feet from Stardom
8. Schooled: The Price of College Sports
9. Evocateur: The Morton Downey, Jr. Movie
10.Linsanity
Documentaries Honorable Mention
11.The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia
12.When Comedy Went to School
13.Venus & Serena
14. Liv & Ingmar
15.Call Me Kuchu
16.No Place on Earth
17.Red Obsession
18.Cutie & the Boxer
19.Inequality for All
20.Spark: A Burning Man Story
21.Bidder 70
22.Men at Lunch
23.Aroused
24.When I Walk
25.Herman’s House
Saving Mr. Banks
Film Review by Kam Williams
P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) was the pen name of Helen Lyndon Goff (1899-1996), the creator of the children’s classic “Mary Poppins.” When his daughters were young, Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) promised to turn their favorite book into a movie, since they were so enchanted by the British nanny with magical powers.
Little did he know that the effort to secure the film rights would drag on for a couple of decades due to the uncompromising author’s inflexibility, as she insisted that any adaptation remain faithful to the source material. The protracted courting process finally proved fruitful in 1961, when Walt wined and dined the reluctant writer at his Hollywood studio while making an elaborate sales pitch to turn the story into a musical.
He would succeed in wooing Travers with the assistance of his screenwriter (Bradley Whitford) and songwriting team (B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman), although the deferential chauffeur (Paul Giamatti) assigned to drive her around during her stay would also play a pivotal role.
That productive two-week visit is revisited by Saving Mr. Banks, a dramatization directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side). The picture’s title is a reference to Mary Poppins’ employer George Banks, who was among the many characters Travers was trying to protect.
Credit consummate thespians Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson for approaching their lead roles in such convincing fashion that a period piece about a contract negotiation actually proves entertaining. Hanks pours on the folksy charm impersonating the legendary Disney opposite the chameleon-like Thompson who takes her sweet time as the steely Travers to soften from skeptical to enthusiastic about the proposed project.
While Saving Mr. Banks certainly waxes sentimental and ends on an upbeat note, a Mary Poppins sequel was not to be, despite the fact that the original won five Academy Awards. For, Travers and Disney had such a big falling out prior to the picture’s release that she wasn’t even invited to the premiere.
Furthermore, she remained so enraged about her book’s mistreatment at the hands of the studio that she went to her grave refusing to entertain overtures for another adaptation, even reaffirming that preference in her will. However, the truth never seems to get in the way of a syrupy cinematic send-up with a stock, “happily ever after” ending.
To paraphrase Mary Poppins, “Just a spoonful of sugar helps revisionist history go down,” and in a most delightful way!
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and unsettling images
Running time: 125 minutes
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
To see a trailer for Saving Mr. Banks, visit
Philomena
Film Review by Kam Williams
Philomena Lee (Dame Judi Dench) made a big mistake as a teenager, namely, having unprotected sex with a cute boy (D.J. McGrath) she had just met at a carnival. The naive girl was left pregnant by the one-night stand, which was no minor matter in Ireland in 1952.
Before she had a chance to disgrace her family by showing signs of bearing an illegitimate child, she was shipped off to a convent to have the baby away from public view. There, she was forced to sign a document not merely relinquishing her parental rights but promising to never even ask to see her son again.
Without her being afforded an opportunity to say goodbye, he was adopted by a wealthy family from the United States at the age of 3 and whisked away to the city Chicago. Meanwhile, Philomena remained beholden to the abbey where, like a latter-day indentured servant, she continued to serve at the beck-and-call of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart order. Although she would eventually escape the convent and pursue a career in nursing, Philomena remained forever haunted by the conspicuous emptiness left by Anthony’s absence.
Fast-forward to his 50th birthday, and she was still consumed with worry about his fate. So, she enlisted the help of Martin Hixsmith (Steve Coogan), a recently-disgraced investigative journalist conveniently in need of a shot at redemption. And, after being denied access to any of the convent’s adoption records, the unlikely pair departed for America together with just a few clues to follow.
Directed by two-time Oscar-nominee Stephen Frears (for The Queen and The Grifters), Philomena is a true tale of overwhelming regret based on “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee,” Hixsmith’s heart-wrenching account of their desperate quest. Dame Judi Dench turns in another inspired performance as a wayward woman from a humble background who belatedly summons up the strength to search for her son and to take on the sadistic Mother Superior (Barbara Jefford) who had been the bane of her existence.
As much a poignant meditation on motherhood lost as a searing indictment of the Catholic Church’s antiquated attitude about what might be in the best interests of an adopted child.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, mature themes and sexual references.
Running time: 98 minutes
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
To see a trailer for Philomena, visit
Nebraska
Film Review by Kam Williams
77 year-old Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is an addlepated alcoholic whose brain is so bent out of shape that he’s convinced he’s struck it rich after getting one of those mass-produced letters in the mail announcing that you’ve just won a million dollars in a magazine sweepstakes. Nevertheless, he soon sets out on foot by himself from Billings, Montana to collect his grand prize in Omaha, Nebraska.
Once it’s clear that the cantankerous curmudgeon can’t be talked out of that foolhardy endeavor, son David (Will Forte) opts to drive his dad there. This doesn’t sit well with Woody’s acid-tongued wife, Kate (June Squibb), who’s too well-grounded in reality to indulge the old coot’s nonsense.
However, as futile as the quest might sound, the pair’s ensuing sojourn across four states does prove rather fruitful. After all, not only does it afford father and son a chance to spend some quality time together, but they also get to catch up with lots of long-lost friends and relatives they visit along the way.
Eventually, Kate and elder son, Ross (Bob Odenkirk), join them en route, grudgingly making the long jaunt a family affair. It’s understandably hard for them to be enthusiastic about an outing inspired by a fraudulent marketing scheme.
Still, sometimes, getting there is all the fun, as is the case with Nebraska, a nostalgic road trip unfolding against the barren backdrop of the heartland’s crumbling infrastructure. The film was directed by two-time Oscar-winner Alexander Payne (for writing Sideways and The Descendants) whose decision to shoot the picture in black-and-white was nothing short of a stroke of genius.
For the lack of color only serves to further emphasize the absence of hope in a rural region left devastated by the failure of its factory, farm and small town life. It’s no wonder, then, that some of the pour souls the Grants encounter might seize on Woody’s pipe dream as a way of alleviating their own misery.
Featuring a career performance by Bruce Dern destined to be remembered during awards season, Nebraska is a lighthearted character study which, ironically, offers a stone, cold sober look at the downsizing of the Midwest’s American Dream.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity
Running time: 115 minutes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
To see a trailer for Nebraska, visit