What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

American Hustle (new David O. Russell film) (1 Viewer)

I'll see anything with Christian Bale, and he does another great job here. I thought the other actors were all excellent, too.

Movie was good, but not great. Slow in the wrong parts. Too much background where we didn't need it. Not every movie needs to be Michael Bay, but cutting down some of the beginning and adding some action would have made for a better movie, IMO. I thought this was entertaining and interesting but I don't feel any need to see it again.

Also, Amy Adams "without makeup" is not very attractive. I put that in quotes, because I'm sure she was actually wearing makeup in those scenes, but that just makes it even worse. Fantastic body, though.

 
Like some are saying, great characters and acting, but the story was all over the place.

The best Christian Bale movie out now in my opinion is Out Of The Furnace. There is a screener on darewall now. Reminded me of Winter's Bone.

 
I'll go over the main characters and try not to reveal main plot points but I think the audience gets hustled somewhat in this movie.

Christian Bale-He probably deserves an acting nomination. His character has a look like the Tom Cruise movie studio exec in Tropic Thunder, this is not a put down at all but bale doesn't look like Bale through the movie. I do not think he gained a lot of weight, thought that was padding for the most part, this is not like when Clooney added 30 pounds a few years back for that Middle East debacle he did.

I didn't think I was watching Bale at all after a while. Basically he is a guy who is fantastic at hustling to make ends meet despite not being the best looking guy in the room. I believed his character and I also felt he knew what was happening at all times even when it was presented like he didn't. He anchors the film and he does a pretty good job of it.

Amy Adams-Good use of the accent, we get to see her boobs for all of 2.5 nanoseconds and then a lot of see thru and plunging dress that despite her not having big boobs, they look wonderful in these dresses. I did feel the dresses after about the first 30-45 minutes really took away from the acting. I couldn't help but keep staring at her bewbies when she was speaking. When I did focus on her face she was terrific. Her acting is always good, she did a great job with the role, I could see her snagging an actor nod or two during awards season.

Bradley Cooper-Oh dear did this go terribly wrong. I think he is still performing in Silver Linings Playbook, this was not good. I didn't care about his character enough and he also did NOT make me hate him enough to where the payoff at the end amounts to much at all. He's good in some films but I am afraid he is going to continue to land parts that should really go to better character actors. I can see he doesn't want to be type cast but for now he should embrace himself as a leading guy and maybe some future action type roles. He felt out of place in the 70s.

Cameo-Robert Deniro, he was great.

Jennifer Lawrence-For awhile i didn't understand why she was in the movie other than name recognition but by the end she really puts her mark on this movie. I thought she had the best ongoing joke with always causing a problem for her husband and then saying things like "You're Welcome" as if she was doing him a favor, that was some good chuckles when she killed the microwave. She looks great in the same type of dresses as Amy Adams and the bathroom scene towards the end of the film with her and Adams was fantastic.

Overall there is something missing in this movie, can't put my finger on it but this is not going to be loved by lots of folks. It was decent, it had some great parts, but those parts did not come together as a whole. I would encourage folks to see the movie but I might try to catch the matinee and save a couple bucks.

3 stars out of 4 for me.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Had a lot of the same feelings MoP did, but I'd go with 2 out of 5 stars. Way too long at 2 hours plus, plenty of fat to be trimmed. While the director got fantastic performances out of his leads (with the exception of Cooper) the pacing and movement of the movie was an incoherent mashup. There was a great linear story to be told here, but it's very uneven to the point of distraction.

Lots of pretty actors doing pretty actor things who deserved a much better movie than the one they were in.

Worth a DVD rental for the acting, but don't expect to get blown away by the mediocre con artist story.

 
I can also understand why Bradley Cooper took this role. It's an actors movie and had a lot of serious muscle in it. But he's got to start picking his roles more carefully if he wants to become one of those 20 million + guys. He's got some chops, but this wasn't his gig at all.

 
Great movie, not sure how someone could think this was a 2/5 stars movie. Acting was excellent by everyone including Renner as a convincing Elvis looking politician.

As much as I love Louis CK, he was pretty bad in this movie.

Did not see the ending coming as some of you did, was pleasantly surprised. With that said, Wolf of Wall Street was a much much better movie just from an entertainment standpoint. I believe Wolf will be remembered in ten years while this will go down as solid film but not much worth coming back for.

 
Great movie, not sure how someone could think this was a 2/5 stars movie. Acting was excellent by everyone including Renner as a convincing Elvis looking politician.

As much as I love Louis CK, he was pretty bad in this movie.

Did not see the ending coming as some of you did, was pleasantly surprised. With that said, Wolf of Wall Street was a much much better movie just from an entertainment standpoint. I believe Wolf will be remembered in ten years while this will go down as solid film but not much worth coming back for.
Wolf was horrible.

 
Great movie, not sure how someone could think this was a 2/5 stars movie.
The performances of Bale and Adams and the pedantic fascination with male perms and comb-overs can't carry what is ultimately an underwhelming story. There's just no flow to it, which kept me from being fully engaged.

In retrospect I also have a problem with the over the top performance of Jennifer Lawrence. It screamed of "I have the least amount of scenes, I have to make them COUNT!" Also, what accent was she trying to pull off exactly?

 
Great movie, not sure how someone could think this was a 2/5 stars movie.
The performances of Bale and Adams and the pedantic fascination with male perms and comb-overs can't carry what is ultimately an underwhelming story. There's just no flow to it, which kept me from being fully engaged.

In retrospect I also have a problem with the over the top performance of Jennifer Lawrence. It screamed of "I have the least amount of scenes, I have to make them COUNT!" Also, what accent was she trying to pull off exactly?
I wouldn't quit your day job in hopes of becoming an agent.

 
For all the hype, was expecting this generation's Goodfellas/Godfather. Didn't come close. Entertaining but will be on the tier-two shelf of mobster movies in a year or two.

Bale was tremendous. He is just hands down a fantastic actor. Worth the ticket price alone. Adams too. Thought Cooper had a couple rough spots.

 
Also, Amy Adams "without makeup" is not very attractive. I put that in quotes, because I'm sure she was actually wearing makeup in those scenes, but that just makes it even worse. Fantastic body, though.
I imagine you are talking about the night club bathroom scene. What that scene showed me is that the makeup artist deserves an Oscar nomination. I agree that she looked rode-hard-and-put-away-wet in that scene but that was how it would really look under those circumstances. They absolutely nailed the reality of how one looks after doing coke and dancing all night then going to have sex in a bathroom stall under terrible lighting.

 
I agree with those who said this movie had great performances by the principle actors, but was still a merely good film. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't call it a great film.

 
Should I get to this one or Wall Street Wolf first?

I see about 2 movies a year, lookout 2014.
without a doubt watch Wolf first.

Don't know one person who saw both of these and thought AH was the better film. Only negatives from Wolf are people who were offended that it had too much sex and drugs or completely missed the point of the movie.

 
From the first scene when Bale is putting his hair together I was hooked on the movie.

I think it ran a little slow through the first two thirds - but it was a good slow.

Aside from the great performances by the four major lead characters, Jeremy Renner was pretty above average as well.

On a juvinile note, I loved the perpetual "cleave" action from Adams and Lawerence.

 
Totally agree with those saying it was phenomenal. Just an endlessly entertaining film with numerous brilliant acting performances. Most films don't have a single performance as brilliant as any of the leads in this. Christian Bale definitely deserves a best actor nomination.

I can get why some wouldn't like the film, as there's not much "action" and it's not a story-driven movie either; but for those who appreciate character-driven movies I don't see how you can think this movie is anything but fantastic. Just a tonne of interesting dynamics between numerous realistic and complex characters that had lots of chemistry. For those that said they didn't hate Bradley Cooper's character enough, you're totally missing the boat. It's not about cliched characters that fit a certain cinematic trope, it's about dynamic/realistic characters that are imperfect; they're generally well-meaning people trying to do what's best, but they all have their individual flaws at the same time. The Bradley Cooper character is arguably no better/worse of a person than any of the other leads, any relative comparison is full of gray, there's not much black and white here.

Two minor quibbles I had: I agree with biggamer3 in that the Louis CK character didn't feel believable to me. I find it hard to imagine such a passive schlub being an FBI boss. I also thought the minor De Niro cameo was kind of distracting, he was good but they should have used someone else for that role imo.

Still all in all I think it's definitely Best Picture worthy. Way better than the majority of the past Best Picture winners of the past decade like Argo, King's Speech, Slumdog Millionaire, etc.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
biggamer3 said:
bushdocda said:
Should I get to this one or Wall Street Wolf first?

I see about 2 movies a year, lookout 2014.
without a doubt watch Wolf first.

Don't know one person who saw both of these and thought AH was the better film. Only negatives from Wolf are people who were offended that it had too much sex and drugs or completely missed the point of the movie.
This person. I wasn't offended by Wolf and didn't miss the point. But the point could have been made in a lot less than 3 hours.

 
Gopher State said:
worst movie of the year, LOTS of empty space in this show
:lmao: Unlike Wolf, there wasn't a needless scene.
Hustle is a two hour movie that felt like three.
Seriously. I was tempted at several points to fast forward the 'for your consideration' copy.

Maybe it just didn't resonate because I was watching it at home :shrug:

Repeat viewings are not going to be kind to Jennifer Lawrence. Her character was grating and she went way over the top making it a caricature.

Bale and Adams were fantastic. Nominations for sure.

Comparing this against other con artists movies leaves American Hustle lacking. The Sting, The Hustler, Catch Me If You Can, The Third Man....the list goes on and on of con artist movies that were watchable even outside of the performances within them. AH may get a nom, but it's due to such a weak sauce group of pictures available to choose from this year.

Now don't get me wrong, if you're used to watching "Grown Ups 2" this is going to seem like Olivier's Hamlet. But if you're looking for some real good con artist movies, hit me up with a PM.

Edit: My wife said to include "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gopher State said:
worst movie of the year, LOTS of empty space in this show
:lmao: Unlike Wolf, there wasn't a needless scene.
Hustle is a two hour movie that felt like three. Wolf is a three hour movie that feels like two.
:lmao:
Just goes to show how we all see things differently. I am with you Christo. Wolf felt extremely long. It seemed more like space between the crude acts than a developed story of consequences. Hustle was more consistently engaging.

I thought both movies were tremendously acted but I don't think either movie is worthy of over the top praise.

 
Gopher State said:
worst movie of the year, LOTS of empty space in this show
:lmao: Unlike Wolf, there wasn't a needless scene.
Hustle is a two hour movie that felt like three. Wolf is a three hour movie that feels like two.
:lmao:
Just goes to show how we all see things differently. I am with you Christo. Wolf felt extremely long. It seemed more like space between the crude acts than a developed story of consequences. Hustle was more consistently engaging.

I thought both movies were tremendously acted but I don't think either movie is worthy of over the top praise.
My only real issue with Wolf is the length. I think DeCaprio was great. Almost as good as Bale's performance in Hustle. If Wolf was 2:15 (which it easily could have been) I'd say it was in truly rarified air.

 
Just watched Prisoners. There was no thread about it and I didn't feel like creating one. Pretty good movie. Definitely worth watching.

 
Sandeman said:
For all the hype, was expecting this generation's Goodfellas/Godfather. Didn't come close. Entertaining but will be on the tier-two shelf of mobster movies in a year or two.

Bale was tremendous. He is just hands down a fantastic actor. Worth the ticket price alone. Adams too. Thought Cooper had a couple rough spots.
Im probably going to go see it in theaters on thursday (even though I can watch dvd quality online for free), and despite how excited Ive been to see this, no way Im going in with expections of the next of the next Godfather or Goodfellas. Doing that is just setting yourself up for disappointment when your expectations are that high. Not to mention this doesnt appear to be a pure mob movie by any stretch.

 
Just watched Prisoners. There was no thread about it and I didn't feel like creating one. Pretty good movie. Definitely worth watching.
Thats what this thread is typically for.

Have yet to see AH as I just said as well as other recently released films that have BOTY potential, but right now Prisoners is probably my 2nd favorite of the year. Great film that I think will get a lot of word of mouth recognition.

I have a feeling I will come away thinking Bale's best performance of the year will be his role in Hustle, but Ive watched Out of the Furnace a couple times this past week and he is seriously great in that as well.

 
Just watched Prisoners. There was no thread about it and I didn't feel like creating one. Pretty good movie. Definitely worth watching.
Thats what this thread is typically for.

Have yet to see AH as I just said as well as other recently released films that have BOTY potential, but right now Prisoners is probably my 2nd favorite of the year. Great film that I think will get a lot of word of mouth recognition.

I have a feeling I will come away thinking Bale's best performance of the year will be his role in Hustle, but Ive watched Out of the Furnace a couple times this past week and he is seriously great in that as well.
Bale was good in Furnace, because he's good in everything, but man that movie was just bad.
 
I did not like this flick, and I don't understand the love it's getting. It was boring, slow, and the payoff was obvious. I was really disappointed because it was at the top of my list of movies to see. I think it's one of those movies that has a bunch of hip names so everyone is afraid to say it sucked. Well, it sucked.

 
Agree with others in here. Thought it was good but not worth a lot of the praise. Certainly not the type of movie I expected to get that insanely high RT score. Acting was definitely great but agree that it felt much longer than 2:09. Coincidentally I thought the movie started spiraling a bit at the same time Bale's character was arguing with Cooper's character that the operation was getting too big with the Florida connection.

Plus seeing Jack Huston with a full face is weird.

 
I did not like this flick, and I don't understand the love it's getting. It was boring, slow, and the payoff was obvious. I was really disappointed because it was at the top of my list of movies to see. I think it's one of those movies that has a bunch of hip names so everyone is afraid to say it sucked. Well, it sucked.
This is the exact description I have given friends and co-workers. Add in the fact that it was a period piece, which people can love to hype up.

 
I did not like this flick, and I don't understand the love it's getting. It was boring, slow, and the payoff was obvious. I was really disappointed because it was at the top of my list of movies to see. I think it's one of those movies that has a bunch of hip names so everyone is afraid to say it sucked. Well, it sucked.
you are this generation's Rosa Parks.

 
Gopher State said:
worst movie of the year, LOTS of empty space in this show
Totally agree. They could have easily cut out 20 minutes from this film and no one would have noticed.

Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Renner were phenomenal in this movie. The innocence of Jeremy Renner was brilliant. Christian Bale may be one of the most underrated screen geniuses of this era, and Amy Adams completely out acted Jennifer Lawrence-who would have been better served by not being in this film at all.

Bradley Cooper was decent. His character was really undefined. At one point he seems like the fearless FBI agent and then he is the humble, lost son (which would have been believable if he was some local cop- not an FBI agent in the age of J Edgar Hoover), he is then portrayed as a sex-driven teenager after Amy Adams character (which brings out some coke induced rage that shows him assaulting another FBI agent-hence would have had him fired-so not believable), and then the tragic Greek hero brought back to earth by the lowly mere mortals.

Louis CK was good but underused.

Jennifer Lawrence brought absolutely nothing to this film other than her name. She is in probably 19.5 of the 20 minutes that could have been cut from the film. What a complete waste of resources. She hasn't produced a single decent performance since Winter's Bone. She'll have a tragic arch to her career because she offers nothing in the way of gripping drama. Once she bears her fruits to the screen, she'll be completely useless to the Hollywood elite.

The film was well directed, other than the waste of time given to Jennifer Lawrence's character. Russell would have been better off using a B lister in this role and saved money on the production budget. Her overacting was painful to watch.

The story was fantastic and offered fairness in the end to all characters. The cameo by Robert De Niro was excellent. It was good to see him play that scary tough guy instead of a shell of himself, mocking the characters that made him great. He was believable and frightening.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Excellent acting, totally boring story.

I don't know why I thought a story about entrapping corrupt politicians would be interesting. Because it's not.

 
Gopher State said:
worst movie of the year, LOTS of empty space in this show
Totally agree. They could have easily cut out 20 minutes from this film and no one would have noticed.

Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Penner were phenomenal in this movie. The innocence of Jeremy Penner was brilliant. Christian Bale may be one of the most underrated screen geniuses of this era, and Amy Adams completely out acted Jennifer Lawrence-who would have been better served by not being in this film at all.

Bradley Cooper was decent. His character was really undefined. At one point he seems like the fearless FBI agent and then he is the humble, lost son (which would have been believable if he was some local cop- not an FBI agent in the age of J Edgar Hoover), he is then portrayed as a sex-driven teenager after Amy Adams character (which brings out some coke induced rage that shows him assaulting another FBI agent-hence would have had him fired-so not believable), and then the tragic Greek hero brought back to earth by the lowly mere mortals.

Louis CK was good but underused.

Jennifer Lawrence brought absolutely nothing to this film other than her name. She is in probably 19.5 of the 20 minutes that could have been cut from the film. What a complete waste of resources. She hasn't produced a single decent performance since Winter's Bone. She'll have a tragic arch to her career because she offers nothing in the way of gripping drama. Once she bears her fruits to the screen, she'll be completely useless to the Hollywood elite.

The film was well directed, other than the waste of time given to Jennifer Lawrence's character. Russell would have been better off using a B lister in this role and saved money on the production budget. Her overacting was painful to watch.

The story was fantastic and offered fairness in the end to all characters. The cameo by Robert De Niro was excellent. It was good to see him play that scary tough guy instead of a shell of himself, mocking the characters that made him great. He was believable and frightening.
What'd you think of Jeremy Renner?

 
Gopher State said:
worst movie of the year, LOTS of empty space in this show
Totally agree. They could have easily cut out 20 minutes from this film and no one would have noticed.

Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Penner were phenomenal in this movie. The innocence of Jeremy Penner was brilliant. Christian Bale may be one of the most underrated screen geniuses of this era, and Amy Adams completely out acted Jennifer Lawrence-who would have been better served by not being in this film at all.

Bradley Cooper was decent. His character was really undefined. At one point he seems like the fearless FBI agent and then he is the humble, lost son (which would have been believable if he was some local cop- not an FBI agent in the age of J Edgar Hoover), he is then portrayed as a sex-driven teenager after Amy Adams character (which brings out some coke induced rage that shows him assaulting another FBI agent-hence would have had him fired-so not believable), and then the tragic Greek hero brought back to earth by the lowly mere mortals.

Louis CK was good but underused.

Jennifer Lawrence brought absolutely nothing to this film other than her name. She is in probably 19.5 of the 20 minutes that could have been cut from the film. What a complete waste of resources. She hasn't produced a single decent performance since Winter's Bone. She'll have a tragic arch to her career because she offers nothing in the way of gripping drama. Once she bears her fruits to the screen, she'll be completely useless to the Hollywood elite.

The film was well directed, other than the waste of time given to Jennifer Lawrence's character. Russell would have been better off using a B lister in this role and saved money on the production budget. Her overacting was painful to watch.

The story was fantastic and offered fairness in the end to all characters. The cameo by Robert De Niro was excellent. It was good to see him play that scary tough guy instead of a shell of himself, mocking the characters that made him great. He was believable and frightening.
What'd you think of Jeremy Renner?
You're brilliant! Unbelievably rich and observant. Golden post.

If I had an FFA award, you'd be the first one to get it. All I can offer to you, sir, is this: :moneybag:

 
Gopher State said:
worst movie of the year, LOTS of empty space in this show
Totally agree. They could have easily cut out 20 minutes from this film and no one would have noticed.

Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Renner were phenomenal in this movie. The innocence of Jeremy Renner was brilliant. Christian Bale may be one of the most underrated screen geniuses of this era, and Amy Adams completely out acted Jennifer Lawrence-who would have been better served by not being in this film at all.

Bradley Cooper was decent. His character was really undefined. At one point he seems like the fearless FBI agent and then he is the humble, lost son (which would have been believable if he was some local cop- not an FBI agent in the age of J Edgar Hoover), he is then portrayed as a sex-driven teenager after Amy Adams character (which brings out some coke induced rage that shows him assaulting another FBI agent-hence would have had him fired-so not believable), and then the tragic Greek hero brought back to earth by the lowly mere mortals.

Louis CK was good but underused.

Jennifer Lawrence brought absolutely nothing to this film other than her name. She is in probably 19.5 of the 20 minutes that could have been cut from the film. What a complete waste of resources. She hasn't produced a single decent performance since Winter's Bone. She'll have a tragic arch to her career because she offers nothing in the way of gripping drama. Once she bears her fruits to the screen, she'll be completely useless to the Hollywood elite.

The film was well directed, other than the waste of time given to Jennifer Lawrence's character. Russell would have been better off using a B lister in this role and saved money on the production budget. Her overacting was painful to watch.

The story was fantastic and offered fairness in the end to all characters. The cameo by Robert De Niro was excellent. It was good to see him play that scary tough guy instead of a shell of himself, mocking the characters that made him great. He was believable and frightening.
You know she just won an Oscar last year right?

You might not have liked Silver Lining Playbook but to say the garbage your saying you would think she was Lindsay Lohan or something.

Also the Young Adult movie franchise she is the star of (hunger games) has been extremely well reviewed so its not like she is putting out garbage just to make money. Some people just love to criticize others I guess.

 
Gopher State said:
worst movie of the year, LOTS of empty space in this show
Totally agree. They could have easily cut out 20 minutes from this film and no one would have noticed.

Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Renner were phenomenal in this movie. The innocence of Jeremy Renner was brilliant. Christian Bale may be one of the most underrated screen geniuses of this era, and Amy Adams completely out acted Jennifer Lawrence-who would have been better served by not being in this film at all.

Bradley Cooper was decent. His character was really undefined. At one point he seems like the fearless FBI agent and then he is the humble, lost son (which would have been believable if he was some local cop- not an FBI agent in the age of J Edgar Hoover), he is then portrayed as a sex-driven teenager after Amy Adams character (which brings out some coke induced rage that shows him assaulting another FBI agent-hence would have had him fired-so not believable), and then the tragic Greek hero brought back to earth by the lowly mere mortals.

Louis CK was good but underused.

Jennifer Lawrence brought absolutely nothing to this film other than her name. She is in probably 19.5 of the 20 minutes that could have been cut from the film. What a complete waste of resources. She hasn't produced a single decent performance since Winter's Bone. She'll have a tragic arch to her career because she offers nothing in the way of gripping drama. Once she bears her fruits to the screen, she'll be completely useless to the Hollywood elite.

The film was well directed, other than the waste of time given to Jennifer Lawrence's character. Russell would have been better off using a B lister in this role and saved money on the production budget. Her overacting was painful to watch.

The story was fantastic and offered fairness in the end to all characters. The cameo by Robert De Niro was excellent. It was good to see him play that scary tough guy instead of a shell of himself, mocking the characters that made him great. He was believable and frightening.
You know she just won an Oscar last year right?

You might not have liked Silver Lining Playbook but to say the garbage your saying you would think she was Lindsay Lohan or something.

Also the Young Adult movie franchise she is the star of (hunger games) has been extremely well reviewed so its not like she is putting out garbage just to make money. Some people just love to criticize others I guess.
Cool, and Crash won a ton of awards in 2005.

Jennifer Lawrence was garbage in this movie. Winter Bone was, by far, her best film. Sorry to pee on your popcorn, Sport.

 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top