American Hustle

David O. Russell has done it again. The director of Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and The Fighter (2010) has created another wildly outlandish and suspenseful blend of drama and comedy with brilliantly moving ensemble performances.

Set in 1978 and loosely based on the Abscam scandal, American Hustle tells the story of a small time con-man, Irving Rosenfeld, and his female partner, Sydney Prosser, caught between an overzealous FBI agent looking to make a name for himself, and the mob.

If you enjoyed the disco era style, fashion and music recreated lovingly for the star studded porn industry film Boogie Nights (1997), you will love this exuberant period spectacle of 1970s underworld figures addicted to the art of the con.

A sleazy con-artist (Christian Bale) uses his confident manner and charisma, despite a convoluted comb-over, to scam greedy people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by implying that he can give them huge returns or loans on their investment.  

David O. Russell is a big admirer of Tarantino and it shows in this movie with many of his signature editing and camera techniques mixed with suspenseful storytelling and hit songs, but without the blood and violence that Tarantino is so fond of.

Using his dry cleaning business as a front, Irving has succeeded so far in staying under the radar for the most part, by keeping things low key, until he meets a talented stripper with an English accent, Sydney (Amy Adams), who he falls in love with, and together they are able to take their con business to new lucrative levels.

With its colorful procession of 70s style seedy people living desperate decadent lives of crime and with plenty of musical interludes that add to the overall funky disco dance mood, this movie is as much fun as a Bootsy Collins concert.

Eventually the couple’s success attracts the attention of undercover FBI agents with equally ambitious goals of catching corrupt politicians. The head of this team, Richie, decides to press Irving’s skills into service to help catch even bigger fish in exchange for a reduced sentence. 

At first, we the audience are completely unsympathetic and even repulsed by Irving’s unscrupulous pot-bellied character, but as his situation gets more complicated and he becomes entangled with even more ambitious and ruthless characters, we start to appreciate some of his better qualities and by the end we find ourselves actually rooting for him.

The story is told through the disparate characters and focuses intimately on these passionate individuals and their changing relationships as they reinvent themselves. When they all come together in a tense filled gathering of volatile egos, the film has us completely enthralled, even as we are totally bluffed by them.

I was kept thoroughly engaged throughout this operatic film as more characters were thrown into the elaborate sting resulting in unpredictable dizzying high-jinx and an emotional and entertaining ride reminiscent of The Sting (1973). 

JP

From Up On Poppy Hill

From Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli comes a sensitively rendered heartwarming love story directed by Goro Miyazaki, the eldest son of animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki.

Set in the spring of 1963 Japan, the story, co-written by Hayao Miyazaki, is narrated by a school girl, Umi,  on a coming-of-age journey to discover her family’s past while the country prepares for the 1964 Summer Olympics. 

Gone are the fantastical creatures, spirits and fanciful flights of childhood fantasy that have become a hallmark of Miyazaki’s films, replaced here by a straight forward historical biography of two students who meet under serendipitous circumstances and find that they have a surprising connection.

There is a genuine complexity about the characters that is believable and the realistic serious nature of the situations make it feel more like a true-to-life live action drama.

In the aftermath of past wars, construction is everywhere as old buildings are being torn down, making way for the future. One such building is an old rundown school clubhouse being used by teen students who have grown attached to the space and want to save it from being demolished. 

The picturesque, artfully drawn animation is as detailed and lushly realistic as you would expect from a Studio Ghibli film, living up to its world class reputation while we get to see in detail the atmosphere and daily activities of village life in a small Japanese coastal town.

Umi, living with her adopted family in a hillside house overlooking the ocean, still holds out hope that her father, who disappeared during the Korean War, will return one day. Every morning she puts up signal flags for passing boats to see in case he returns. One day Umi discovers that somebody is answering the flags with a cryptic message in the papers. 

Jazzy songs from the 1960s and French bistro music gives the film an added layer of authenticity and a nostalgic melancholy feel typical of Miyazaki’s films.

While the male students are organizing protests to convince the school board that their clubhouse is worth preserving for future generations, Umi finds herself suddenly caught up in the enterprise when she meets one of the passionate young organizers, Shun, and volunteers to help the cause.

Having recently announced his retirement after completing his last project The Wind Rises (2013), Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, being releases soon in cinemas, is similarly a biographical account and a love story that takes place in Japan just before the start of W.W. II. 

As Umi and Shun work together they become close as they get to know each other. But their attraction for each other is complicated when they make a surprising discovery about their families.

Working together, father and son have created a mature heartfelt story that hits all the Miyazaki noted traits. If From Up on Poppy Hill is any indication, Studio Ghibli appears to be in good hands as its legacy is passed on to a new generation.

JP

Moonstruck

Moonstruck (1987) is as satisfying as a big pizza pie; a charming ode to typical Italian American family values and eccentricities steeped in nostalgic longing for romance set during a magical full moon in Brooklyn’s Little Italy, New York.

When a new production arrives at The Metropolitan Opera, it brings a magical air of romance to an Italian neighborhood that will change the destiny of a lonely widow and her traditional Italian family.

The film sets a warm inviting tone from the opening credits with bustling early morning New York traffic scenes as the Opera production trucks pass by working class Italian businesses opening their stores and set to Dean Martin’s iconic love song ‘That’s Amore’.

A young widow, Loretta Castorini (Cher), with few marriage prospects after her fiancé was killed in a car accident and living at home with her parents while working as a book keeper, decides after seven years to accept a marriage proposal from her late fiancé’s best friend Johnny Cammareri, a person she likes but does not love. 

Cher is absolutely wonderful in her Oscar winning role as the practical widow resigned to her fate, who finds love unexpectedly at the most inopportune time. This heartwarming comedy is one of my all-time favorites and never ceases to be thoroughly enjoyable. 

Much like Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1979), Moontruck shows us an intimate view of a family and the many romantic relationships that co-exist between people from all walks of life in the city that never sleeps. All the characters have their own musical theme and the full moon plays a big part in the magical atmosphere of the film.

Loretta begins to plan her wedding while her new fiancé leaves for Italy to visit his dying mother. He makes only one request of Loretta while he is away; to invite his estranged younger brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage) to the wedding because he wants to mend the long standing rift in their relationship. 

The story by New York playwright John Patrick Shanley, was inspired by some of his own experiences with Italian families while growing up in New York.

Loretta is in for a surprise when she eventually goes to meet with her fiancé’s brother and discovers a bitter person still holding a very big grudge towards his older sibling.  While trying to resolve his personal issues, they discover that they both have strong pent up feelings of resentment stemming from the tragic events of their past.

Canadian director extraordinaire Norman Jewison, who was recently awarded the Technicolor Clyde Gilmour award from Toronto Film Critics Association, is not afraid to allow the characters their time and space to develop and he finds great chemistry that pays off during the hilarious climax of the film. 

While exposing their unresolved emotions, Loretta and Ronny discover that they have much in common and sparks start to fly when they both come to the realization that they’ve started the healing process while in each other's company.

As we follow the personal stories of several family members throughout the film, they eventually intersect and come together in a touching climax you won’t soon forget at the kitchen breakfast table.  Don’t miss this delightful romantic comedy and homage to love and family.

JP