The first great film with a 2014 UK
release goes to David Russell for his quirky follow up to last year’s Academy
Award darling, Silver
Linings Playbook. A sexy ‘70s heist
film with a smooth and jazzy soundtrack that essentially updates the Oceans Eleven model for the more urbane
2013/14 audiences.
The film is basically a pair of love
triangles between four characters:
Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), a small-time conman that hustles
people with the promise of large loans that never materialize; Sydney Prosser
(Amy Adams), his new girlfriend that joins the scams by pretending to be a
wealthy British royal; Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Jennifer Lawrence), Irving’s wife and
the mother of his child who likes to drink and be the centre of attention; and Richie
DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) an FBI agent who is trying to uncover corruption and is
falling for Sydney (who he thinks is called Edith).
The backdrop of all of the romance is
that Richie catches Irving and Sydney attempting to commit fraud so he forces
them to help him in setting up a bribery bust with the mayor of New Jersey
Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) and other politicians. The plan originally involves offering money
for much needed infrastructure development and ends up involving casino mobs
and mysterious Middle Eastern Sheiks that are trying to reap the benefits off
gambling licenses.
The soundtrack (which already has a Spotify
playlist dedicated to it – I highly recommend White Rabbit by Mayssa Karaa)
acts as a mood stabiliser for a largely meandering plot. Some scenes are dramatic and focus on family
issues, others are comedic and use slapstick, but throughout there is a suave
soundtrack that holds it all together; that and the obvious ‘70s costumes and
set design. This is no insult though –
the characters are given space to breathe and fluctuate instead of staying to a
linear and strict script. Jennifer
Lawrence especially is given the opportunity to really expand in many scenes:
from singing a rendition of Live and Let
Die directly to camera, to screaming and crying and stealing every scene
throughout. So far she is having the perfect decade.
The film as a whole is a wonderfully
sensual experience with strong emphasis on its slick rebellious music and
typically decadent 1970s yellow, white and brown visuals. But also there is a strong focus on smells
and taste: Rosalyn keeps referring to
the smell of her nail varnish as a sweetness with a hint of ‘garbage’
underneath, a metaphor for mafia high-class crime perhaps; and there are lots
of shots of wines and champagnes that lovingly fill the screen. The very best 'sensual' scene though was the disco dance scene (with the obligatory Donna Summer song) that made me want to leave the cinema and find the nearest big room with a strobe light...
Another interesting thing to take away
from the film is how sincere the main politician is. At no point does Polito seem disingenuous
when he talks about the great people of his state, or the future that he is
trying to help them build. I can’t
remember a time in a recent film when politicians have been treated with such a
positive shine. The typical cliché is to
have politicians who are either a caricature of greed and evil or conceitedly
dishonest. It was quite refreshing to
see a human being in office who enjoys the perks of the job, yet still seems to
honestly believe in the duties of his office.
Irving, the conman-with-a-conscious,
spends the latter half of the film getting more uncomfortable with the bribery
and entrapment aimed at the politicians and he himself begins to concoct a plan
to save them from their own possible greed.
So the film ends up being anti-police (FBI) yet pro-politician – a
somewhat radical position for such a mainstream film.
Nice post thanks for your listing..Jennifer Lawrence won the Academy Award for Best Actress in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo won for best supporting actor and actress in The Fighter (2010).david o russell interview
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