The Art of Conning

There should be no boomer out there who would dislike the movie American Hustle. And this boomer liked the flick so much that I watched it twice within a month! The 70's-era film with big hair, excessive cleavage, disco music and outlandish costumes was just a blast. Ever since The Fighter, I've become a big fan of director/writer/producer David O. Russell. Who cares if George Clooney and Lily Tomlin hated him? Here's a director who went through a professional (a six-year hiatus with no film) and personal (his son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder) crisis and re-emerged in Hollywood at the top of his game! So it's no surprise that Russell wrote a story about resilience and survival with such wit and humour. So far, both the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild Awards loved the film. Russell was, for once, not a producer of this movie and left it to Bradley Cooper who, in addition to being one of the key supporting actors, was also the co-executive producer.

This is a movie which showcased its actors. That's why for the second consecutive year (after last year's Silver Linings Playbook), Russell once again led his cast to Oscar nominations in all four acting categories with Christian Bale (Best Actor), Amy Adams (Best Actress), Jennifer Lawrence (Best Supporting Actress) and Bradley Cooper (Best Supporting Actor). Every single one of them excelled in this film and on top of that, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K. and Robert De Niro all gave outstanding supporting performances.

Amidst this excellent cast, I have to root for Amy Adams as the winner of Best Actress at the Oscars on March 2. If I were a member of the Academy, it would have been a toss-up between Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine and Amy Adams in this film. All the nominees in this category probably deserved to win, but there's a difference between who ought to win and who I want to win. It's unfair that Jennifer Lawrence has almost overshadowed Adams in all the media coverage on her supporting role. But Adams's performance was just 'one hit out of the ballpark' strong! From her previous outstanding, but diverse roles in The Fighter, The Master and even the recent Her, one would never have thought that she could play such a glamourous, clever, scheming female con artist. But sporting extreme cleavage for the most part of the movie, Adams as Sydney Prosser was dazzlingly hot and charismatic in this film! The sharp contrast against her 'girl next door' role in Her all the more confirmed her acting sophistication. Everbody could only remember Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julia and Julia and almost nobody recalls Amy Adams as the other Julia in the film. But in American Hustle, Adams, the ultimate femme fatale, with her irresistible animal magnetism, just made the movie!

The entire flick was based on the 'conning' theme - "people believe what they want to believe". So, if you agree with this premise, nothing is off limits in the art of conning. As a crime comedy, the film was surprisingly brain-wracking and I'd recommend that you pay full attention every single minute. Otherwise, if you snooze, you lose! There were so many metaphors throughout the movie - hairdos played a very major role! Big hair, curly hair, toupees, comb-overs, showgirl updos, bouffants, permed hair, afros... you name it! Most of the male and female leading and supporting actors at one point wore either curlers or hairpieces in the movie. Can we see through the characters behind the hairdos? That's the main question for the audience.

Then there's the ice-fishing story trying to be told many times in the film by the popular U.S. comedian Louis C.K., but never got finished. And the numerous fires, explosions and accidents started by Jennifer Lawrence in her role as Rosalyn, the Long-Island homemaker, the loose-cannon wife who almost brought about the downfall of con man Irving Rosenfeld, masterfully played by Christian Bale.

Jeremy Renner didn't get any award nominations for his supporting role as New Jersey mayor Carmine Polito. But his cartoonish performance was so comical and convincing that he kind of reminded me of Chris Christie in his current Bridgegate crisis.

All in all, a two-thumbs-up movie if you want to laugh, morally reflect and be entertained at the same time!

Beautiful But Sad Futuristic Movie

Her is the kind of movie that is so good that you immediately have to pay some attention to its director and writer Spike Jonze who is the ex-husband of another talented director, Sophia Coppola. I never saw any of his three previous feature films - Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where The Wild Things Are - but now, I'd want to see them all.

I've never liked futuristic movies because most of them are not realistic; but Her is one that could disturbingly be real in the very near future! I went and saw it because so many film critics and talk show hosts loved it - the movie was nominated for three Golden Globes (and would probably win at least one tonight) and won 37 international awards including the Best Screenplay for the 2014 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards.

Upon seeing the movie, you'll marvel first at the brilliant and clever original screenplay; then the outstanding acting by Joaquin Phoenix; followed by the beautiful cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema (The Fighter and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and the direction of Spike Jonze.

By now, everybody who is curious about movies must know that Her is a science fiction about a writer who falls in love with his 'female' operating system produced by artificial intelligence. My first reaction to the trailer was that it's a stupid concept - particularly when you saw the lead actor Joaquin Phoenix interacting with a computer! But, lo and behold, it's actually quite believable and very clever.

It took Jonze only five months to write his first draft of the story, but he never doubted that Phoenix would be his first choice as playing Theodore, the lonely writer who writes love letters for other people. After all, which male actor of our times could convincingly act for the majority of time on screen talking to himself? Well, or talking to a fake person who's also his OS? And besides being credible, Phoenix is adoringly sad and sweet at the same time.

While shooting the movie, the OS voice was played by British actress Samantha Morton who was on the set in a secluded box communicating with Phoenix without actually seeing each other. But after the movie was shot, both the director and Morton agreed that she's not the right voice. So Scarlett Johansson was brought in as the new Samantha and her voice was primarily recorded in the post-production studio with Phoenix being present with her as well. But what a great choice! Johansson gave a sexy, empathetic, witty and jealous performance of Samantha without the distraction of her physical attraction.

I always feel that Amy Adams is probably one of the most underestimated actresses of Hollywood. In American Hustle, for instance, Adams should be given all the acting compliments instead of the Hollywood 'it' girl Jennifer Lawrence. In this movie, Adams played Amy, the wonderful neighbour and platonic friend of Theodore's, with minimal make-up and full Silicon-Valley personality and appearance. Olivia Wilde also shed her usual heavy cosmetics to play the pretty, brainy but neurotic blind date of Theodore's.

The movie was made, for the most part, in Los Angeles, with two weeks of filming in Shanghai as the futuristic city. But what I love about the film is that it's extremely funny and sad at the same time. It's ridiculous that human beings have been reduced to a state that is incapable of having any healthy relationships with another person. Instead, we find comfort in falling in love with an invisible OS who becomes our personal assistant, our advisor in relationships, and our love object as well. But judging from how everybody is so addicted to technology nowadays, it's not hard to imagine that we might all become Theodore's and Amy's in the very near future.

Even though you expect Her to be witty, there are so many more clever moments that surprise you. The extremely funny video games such as the scoring of the Mommy points and the SexyKitten voice played by Kristen Whig are just two examples. It's a movie that bewilders you and yet depresses you at the same time. Maybe it's time to take some down time from our smartphones, our tablets and other electronic devices, and focus on our relationships with our loved ones instead?