At the Cinema - December 2013

The Wolf of Wall Street – 10

You’ll like this movie you like roller coasters.  This is a frenetic, wildly entertaining, deeply offensive look at conspicuous consumption and white collar crime.  It is the true story of a Wall Street broker named Jordan Belfort who founded a firm that specialized in touting hopeless penny stocks, committing numerous crimes in the process.  How they get their money will make you cringe.  How they spend it will probably shock you. 

Let’s talk about Marty.

Martin Scorcese looked at those last 30 frenetic minutes in Goodfellas and asked himself if he could do 3 hours at that pace.  The answer?  Yes.  Holding my attention for 3 hours is usually only accomplished in a stadium, but here every scene blisters you with crazy dialogue and riveting excess.  This is Scorcese at the height of his powers.  I almost didn't want to see this because of the length. I really thought it would be impossible for him to hold my attention this long.  I was wrong.

Let’s talk about Thelma

Thelma Schoonmaker is Scorcese’s long time film editor.  Her crowning achievement has always been Raging Bull.  Clear the mantel Thelma.  One senses that in lesser hands this footage could have been a mess. But when you talk about construction of a film, this is a master class.  From dialogue, to music, to locales, it’s all weaved together beautifully.

Let’s talk about Leo. 

Leonardo DiCaprio has always been one of those functional actors who seems to get all the great parts.  He must be a nice guy, easy to work with, and dependable.  He won’t elevate your movie, but he won’t mess it up either.  He’s safe.  Forget all that.  This is the best performance of his career, as he cuts loose with everything he’s got.  I’m sure it will be overlooked at awards time, with names like Redford, McConaghey (who is terrific as Belfort’s first mentor in this movie), and Chiwetel Ejiofor, but it shouldn’t be.  His portrayal of penny stock swindler Jordan Belfort captures all the charisma that a guy had to have to pull off this wretched excess.  He’s all in, and nothing he’s ever done before would have predicted the magnitude of this performance.

Let’s talk about the future. 
I suspect this film will get overlooked during awards season.  It’s not the type of movie that older Academy Award voters will cotton to. People will rail about the glorification of drugs, sex, obscenity, and the criminal behavior, and they will be right.  Let’s face it, your reaction to this movie will probably be in direction proportion to your age.  The box office will be modest, as the faint of heart will stay away.  But as the years go by, and it runs over and over on cable, and we get desensitized to the images, the snap, crackle, and pop of the dialogue and the turbulent characters will make this a movie, like Goodfellas, that will be watched over and over.  You won’t be able to resist.

American Hustle – 8

You’ll like this movie if you like crazy Feds.  Here’s the white collar crime book end to Wall Street.  This is the alleged maybe fictionalization of the ABSCAM scandal of the 80’s.  If you don’t remember ABSCAM you won’t remember the bad clothes either, and this movie is here to remind you.  The feds got the bright idea, exemplified by Bradley Cooper and his bad hair in this movie, that they should just try to bribe a bunch of congressman and see who would take a briefcase of cash.  Surprise, influence peddling was alive and well, and a bunch went to jail. 

There are some great attributes to this movie, starting with Amy Adams’ attributes who are prominently displayed throughout.  If you are able to lift your eyes you’ll notice she’s also a terrific actress.  It’s Amy and Jennifer Lawrence who provide the spark in this movie.  Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper are also excellent, if a little preoccupied with their hair.  Were we this bad? 

Sometimes the movie rambles, getting lost in its own craziness, but it’s generally entertaining and reemphasizes the corrupting influence of money.  I’m thinking these two movies will always be linked together, bookends forever, telling us nothing changes but how we spend the money.

Saving Mr. Banks – 8

You’ll like this movie if you liked Mary Poppins.  Some of the songs from that 1964 movie are stuck in my ear canal forever, and I can still sing the choruses.  However I don’t remember but a few images.  Guess I’ll have to watch it again.

This is the story of how the movie got made.  Emma Thompson plays the author of the beloved set of children’s books, that Walt Disney was determined to make into a movie.  Walt is played by Tom hanks here, and he was so determined that he negotiated with author Mrs. P L Travers for over 20 years, and this is the story of the conclusion of their wrestling over how to make it all come to life.

Emma is brilliant and conveys that bite and determination that only the British seem to have.  It’s just a pleasure to watch her in action.  This is nicely done Disney entertainment.

Inside Llewyn Davis – 6

You’ll like this movie if you’re a Dylanesque troubadour at heart.  This is the story of a guitar-playing folk singer in the early 60’s navigating his way around the Greenwich Village club scene.  When I say navigating, I mean searching for a couch to sleep on for just a few nights, till he wears out his welcome and gets booted on to the next couch.   He used to be part of a folk duo, but his partner jumped off a bridge, and it’s easy to imagine that Llewyn drove him to it.  He’s that irritating. But he’s also pretty talented in that he appears to have a few songs that work ok for him, and so he stumbles along hopeful that his records will sell.  But, it’s apparent pretty quickly that we’re not talking Pete Seeger here.

Oscar Davis is excellent in the title role.  You have to hand it to directors Joel and Ethan Coen for capturing a very specific time and place and a vagabond in action.  There are a handful of pretty good songs, and Carey Mulligan (who knew she could sing?) and Justin Timberlake are perfect as fellow folk singers with very different opinions of Llewyn.  The movie has been widely acclaimed as one of the year’s best and I don’t want to dissuade anyone from seeing it.  You will probably know going in whether this interests you or not, and as a character study of an unlikeable guy, it works perfectly.  The problem?  It just never engaged me.  Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t, and I found it dull, boring, melancholy, and rather meandering.  I was disappointed.  Maybe you will like it.  I appreciated the effort, but I guess I’m missing something.

Scanning the Satellite

Hitchock (2012) - 8

Finally caught this movie on HBO.  One of my top 10 movies of all time is Psycho, and this is the story of the making of the movie, which the studio didn’t want to make, but Alfred Hitchcock insisted on.  The star power of Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock and Helen Mirren as his wife Alma, as great as they are, probably doesn’t serve the movie that well, but it’s all very entertaining.  There are no great revelations, but it’s an interesting homage to one of the great directors and his classic movie.

The Girl (HBO – 2012) – 7

Not quite so flattering is this HBO docudrama that tells the story of Hitchock’s obsessions with his blond leading ladies, particularly Tippi Hedren, wonderfully portrayed by Sienna Miller here.  A little creepy, a little mean, but certainly enlightening.  The scenes featuring "the birds" will scare you all over again, but for a different reason.