La gran estafa americana

El mayor sorpresa. Me avergüenzo de la condescendencia y los prejuicios con los que me acerqué a esta película. Según los adelantos y las críticas, me quedé desconcertado con tantas nominaciones al Oscar. Los primeros treinta minutos me absorbieron por completo, luego se enredó en ese engaño o truco que no entendí en absoluto durante toda la película. Pero eso no importa en absoluto, porque esta película me divirtió mucho. No puedo clasificarla en ningún género, ¿es una comedia, un thriller, un drama? Sobre todo, es un concierto actoral. En primer lugar, debo mencionar a Amy Adams, porque me sorprendió aún más después de "The Fighter". Quizás la había encasillado en la categoría de una chica normal, pero se liberó de ese papel gracias a este personaje. Cambia de vestuario una y otra vez y además actúa, baila y provoca a Bradley Cooper a la perfección. Sus dos escenas en el baño son inolvidables. Jennifer Lawrence puede tener mala suerte por haber recibido el Oscar el año pasado, porque en el papel de la esposa de Irving destaca literalmente. Y eso que nunca me había gustado especialmente. Por último, Christian Bale, con su peinado y ombligo, puede parecer discreto, pero al examinarlo más de cerca, no me queda más remedio que afirmar que es perfecto en su papel. Jeremy Renner con el cabello alborotado y Michael Peña como el jeque son agradables añadidos. El truco sucio puede dividir a los fanáticos, lo cual entiendo completamente, porque es una película muy singular y peculiar. Sin embargo, cada vez me gusta más y tal vez por eso le he dado una calificación de cinco estrellas sin crítica alguna. Sin embargo, hacía mucho tiempo que no me sucedía que, días después de ver la película, siguiera viendo algunas escenas una y otra vez. Además, no puedo sacarme a Jonesovu Delilah de la cabeza. (04.03.2014)

Una farsa retro con un maravilloso vestuario que durante unas dos horas marcha a una velocidad bien baja, ahogándose en una acción actoral manierista. La gran estafa americana definitivamente no me parece una película magistralmente dirigida. Al contrario, es sorprendente cómo a un ritmo tan lento el foco de la ambiciosa trama se debilita en la mal manejada maraña de motivaciones de los personajes. Pero, ¿usted lo haría mejor con Amy Adams caminando semidesnuda ante la cámara? Sin embargo, las actuaciones son fantásticas. Bale se esfuerza, pero la mayor joya de la actuación aquí es Jennifer Lawrence. Amy Adams súper caliente (y sea sincero, ¿usted se quedaría tranquilo en la escena del baño?) y la nata en este pastel retro es el inesperado Sr. «XY» de Miami en el mejor papel mafioso en muchos años. Con él, sube la velocidad de la película. Las nominaciones a mejor película y dirección probablemente fueron aseguradas por el colgante de Bale. (27.01.2014)

“Some of this actually happened.” The exaggerated opening title well indicates the strengths and weaknesses of Russell’s American Hustle, which isn’t rooted in any particular genre. No, we will not familiarise you with the procedural details of the central swindle. Who knows what it was really like back then? And yes, like what you are about to see, Hollywood is one big game that plays fast and loose with the truth. So, we will set up a mirror and other reflective surfaces in front of ourselves and from the opening scene (preparation for the performance) we will draw attention to the performative dimension of the con artist’s “craft”. Which is to say that we will not focus on facts or provide enough of them that would create tension and expectations, but only self-reflexive wordplay that belongs entirely to the actors. Due to the sidelining of the course of the operation in favour of the relationships between the characters, who deny and rediscover their own identities, there is nothing that would hold the narrative structure together and keep the viewer in suspense. We can understand the herky-jerky rhythm of the narrative as an attempt to adapt the form to a large number of narrators with different natures and goals (and acting styles, because nearly every actor is attuned to a different genre), though I personally see it as evidence of Russell’s indiscipline as a director, which is caused by putting too much trust in the actors. Similarly, the manneristic use of certain stylistic techniques (rapid dolly shots) and gratuitous incorporation of contemporary music testify to the fact that Russel is adept at his craft and knows how to shoot a “cool” scene, but his directing is non-conceptual. The changes of identities, genres, rhythm and narrators are fun at first and give the film a certain flair. Due to the aimless directing and meaningless plot, however, the excess of images and words, which basically say the same thing again and again (and say it much more straightforwardly than, for example, Preston Sturges in the timeless The Lady Eve, becomes off-putting much sooner than, for example, in The Wolf of Wall Street, which seems to be a much shorter film thanks to its more concentrated and coherent narrative. As is becoming customary in the case of Russell, the actors save the film from being completely rejected and quickly forgotten. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, though entertaining, forgot to switch from the eccentric comedy mode employed in Silver Linings Playbook and the atrocious (s)exploitation of Amy Adams’s body needlessly flattens the Sydney character and detracts from her ambivalence, but at least Christian Bale hasn’t looked so bad and acted so well in a few years. 65% (21.01.2014)

Well, spank my ass and call me Charlie. A movie made by a hell of a director with actors that could fill up a hall of fame, but still the movie turns out bad. I can’t remember the last time I felt so terribly disappointed. Sure, I did see the reviews here, but I kept telling myself that people simply didn’t like some aspect of the movie. But what I didn’t expect is that the aspect was the entire movie – literally all of it. I mean everything about the movie is bad. Let me start from the beginning. The screenplay is absolutely terrible. This must have been written by some lunatic who paid to have his screenplay made into a movie with A-list actors, or I don’t know what else to think. It’s a mixture of boredom, greyness and lack of interest… it’s absolutely terrible and it won’t keep you entertained even at the end. And that leads to the individual characters, the setting, the non-existent humor. All of it. Literally. The two stars are actually quite a good rating as this is a joke gone bad rather than any kind of a hustle. Compared to other movies in a similar vein, this is incredibly sub-par. (05.02.2014)

We weren’t wrong about David O. Russel the first time. American Hustle wants to be a refreshing, engaging and vibrant gangster movie and manages it quite well. At times, it tries too hard, especially with the at times surprisingly and intentionally weird behaviour of some of the characters, but it never gets to the point of bothering me. The performances are superb without exception. It’s delivered as a comedy and I take it as such. This time Russel doesn’t try to unsuccessfully portray romantic relationships or social conflicts, which I take it as a plus. For me, good fun and satisfaction. (05.01.2014)