3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): The Lost Bus

2025, Paul Greengrass (Jason Bourne) -- download

Apparently I like movies about brush fires? But where as Only the Brave was about the brave men fighting the fires, this focused on a bus driver who chooses to save some elementary school kids, when he could have just escaped with his own family. Unlike the former, he actually lives, and this is less biopic and more just a dramatization of a very heroic act. 

Maybe, fire-fighting in the forest adjacent movies, like "Those Who Wish Me Dead"?

Also, apparently Greengrass is the accessible drama-meets-action director that can stir me from hiatus-is. As I am wont to do, after stepping away from films for a little while, settling back into it with a clear Hollywood production, I cannot help but see the trappings of the Purple Suits, but in this case, its not so much the annoyance at interference, but just the recognition of how a modern movie has to be made. 

OK, Paradise, California. One of those northern California towns in the wooded hills that is pretty much the middle of nowhere. The movie begins with high winds and waving, sparking power lines that lead to a grass fire at the base of the tower -- apparently IRL the power company was sued for causing this fire; and they lost. We also meet Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey, Mud), a down-on-his-luck sad-sack driving a school bus, pissing off his ex-wife and his boss constantly, trying to reconnect with an irascible teenage son, and not having much luck. He recently moved back to Paradise to help with his ailing mother, after his dad's passing. We get the idea he wasn't leaving much behind. These are all trappings of the clear Hollywood movie I mentioned. 

McConaughey does this kind of role so well -- he always seems to be a bit down-on-his-luck, but to be fair to mid-range Hollywood accessibility, he isn't given much range in this character -- drive the bus, play a fuck-up who obviously redeems himself, BUT given the man's talent, he plays it entirely believably.

Speaking of down-on-his-luck fuck-ups, I wonder if he has ever played a grimy PI ? I mean, yes, "True Detective", but what about gritty, never-shaved, back-alley or strip-mall detective?

The fire spreads, the trucks try to roll in, but the fire is in such an isolated place in the hills, they cannot reach. Fire fighting Chief Martinez (Yul Vazquez, Midnight, Texas) quickly coordinates response but there are challenges everywhere: high winds make aerial bombardment ineffective, the aforementioned accessibility issue, and the high winds cause it to move VERY quickly into populated communities. Evacuations are called for, but even the emergency coordination is chaotic & confused leading to 23 elementary students left at a school in the fire's path. Meanwhile Kevin is having a rough day -- his boss is angry at him (again), his kid is ill and his ex is yelling at him on the phone, and his mother is barely capable of taking care of herself. But when forced to make a choice, he swings his bus around and heads for the kids.

That's what the movie is about -- that fevered, hampered effort to get the kids away from the danger to a safe place. The thing about this movie is that it is well-backed, even for mid-range drama. Thus, the depiction is well sorted out, and the cinematography and lighting is on-point. The mid-morning bright sunlight quickly gives way to dusk's gloom, and then full on moonless-sky-night, as the town is enveloped by the clouds of black smoke. Everyone is evacuating, cell towers have collapsed and even the emergency management system has broken down. Its full on panic and the roads are snarled. What should be a quick 10 minute drive to safety ends up being a scramble to find an expedient path before the fire overruns them.

At Kevin's side is teacher Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera, Barbie) and their journey together is not idyllic. Crying children, flames and smoke, cut-off paths, and fire-engulphed neighbourhoods crush even her steely will to protect those kids. I repeat, the typical trappings are there -- the pep talks, the sharing of personal stuff between the two adults, the bonding between Kevin and one boy from a divorced family. At least Greengrass handles it all well, so my eye-rolling is at a minimum, and all that was easily supplanted by the colour and the lighting of it all. They are literally passing through the Fires of Hell, and you feel it.

I mean, we know they survive. They bust through the wall of flames to the almost surreal calm beyond. But the movie is kind enough to not just end there, giving Kevin a chance be acknowledged for his bravery, before he slinks off to check on his family and feel the relief he has needed all day. Kevin's problems aren't fixed, he is still who he is, and now he has lost his family home. But he survived, and he performed an admirable act. Maybe that one act can make up for many things; but he has to make it matter.

3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Warfare

2025, Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza (Civil War & directorial debut) -- Amazon

As Kent said, the most impactful and very intentional thing about this movie is the cry of, "WHY?!?!" But before we get to that...

Warfare is actually what I would normally call a "small movie", i.e. a very condensed plot focused on a single event during the Iraq War in the early 2000s. A group of SEALs is tasked with providing "overwatch" for a joint operation with the Marines. This involves taking over a two-story house, which is occupied, and setting themselves up to monitor activities at a nearby market square. It is never clear as to why that house, nor whether any of the other houses in the neighbourhood are also occupied. Its not important to the movie, but you have to assume... yes? But no matter, they come in, strong-arm all the civilians together, setup defenses and radio in. And wait. And watch.

These are a bunch of young guys, likely not having seen any action before, all fresh faced, unwounded. They all have their assigned duties and work together like a well-oiled machine. I know its a cliche, and I am prone to using idioms, but the way the movie presents the team working together is very machine like -- lots of well-rehearsed activities supported by almost indecipherable radio jargon. They work well together, and support each other.

And then, almost immediately, someone throws a wrench into the machine, or more precisely, a grenade. The people they have been observing are also observing them, and begin a coordinated attack. They call it in, ask for support, as danger is very real and imminent, and things just go from bad to worse. The grenade injured their sniper, mildly but enough to request his evac. The Bradley tank that shows up to pick him up positions itself right over an IED and ... BOOM. The soldiers go from commands and coordinated actions to screaming panic, blood and chaos.

When it is over, and all the surviving soldiers are away in Bradleys, the locals emerge, both the home owners and the adversaries. They have driven away the Americans. They have hurt the Americans, who have come, accomplished little, to nothing, and they have run away. And one of the home occupants looks around at the devastation, the wreckage left after countless bullets, IEDs, tank rounds, and explosives, and the cry is uttered. Its not hard to understand this small action was a metaphor for the war.

The movie ends with the "usual" credit rolls, where we see the real soldiers compared to the actors that played them. Except all but one of the soldiers have their faces blurred. A comment on a lack of support from the very real soldiers they portrayed? The detritus of making an "anti-war" movie? There are no easy answers to that but this movie wasn't anymore anti-anything than a flag-waver. But for that one utterance, and the loud cries from wounded soldiers, this was an exciting, nerve-wracking portrayal of combat actions with tight performances, well-crafted scenes and an incredible sound landscape.

The movie stars a handful of recognizable faces including: Will Poulter (The Bear), D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs), Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun), and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), well, and many more who are nigh unrecognizable under the grime, sand and gear of war.

3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Last Breath

2025, Alex Parkinson (a bunch of "documentary" style TV shows like River Monsters) -- download

Well that explains things, in that while watching the movie, it felt more like watching a dramatic version of a documentary, but with no commentary track. There was little to no characterization and the movie was swept along by the tides of the "action", and that action was barely a nod to traditional tense rescue thrillers. And yet I was carried along by what was going on, to the point of going, "Wow, that was 1.5 hours??"

The story is a real life one, where a "saturation diver" (they get stuck inside a compression tank which is saturated with gases, so they can deep dive for long periods of time) is lost due to a rough seas accident, and actually succumbs to lack of oxygen. But even after almost a half hour without air, he.... survived, with no ramifications. Parkinson previously did a documentary on the events, also called Last Breath, which lends some cause as to why it felt so... detailed and realistic. Anywayz, two deep divers, repairing oil pipes in the North Sea are separated during rough weather, and one, Chris Lemons (Finn Cole, Animal Kingdom) is lost when his power & air tether breaks away. The crew of the ship desperately tried to repair their issues, eventually allowing the remaining diver Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu, Kim's Convenience) to recover Chris, and was incredibly surprised when the man started breathing again.

The plot is small, the cast is small, the "action" is limited, and yet somehow, as already mentioned, I felt satisfied with the story telling. There is a great supporting cast all who seemed to be dedicated to giving a good performance without any of those big thriller moments. To me, it says something about Parkinson's directing in that we all, viewer and performers, felt present in the moments. We all have seen movies where it just felt like a camera pointed at someone reading lines. I hope to see him do some more dramatic pieces, though most audiences would not enjoy that this survivor thriller was low on the usual rollercoaster scale of thrills.

Bottle Shock

2008, d. Randall Miller - amazonprime

Not wanting to start yet another TV series, we were strolling through the streamers to see what exactly might pique our interests when we came across this Chris Pine/Alan Rickman vehicle that we'd never heard of.  Missing any sort of new Alan Rickman in our lives (RIP) we gave it a go....  

And it turns out, we've never heard of it before, because it's a total mess of a movie, one that doesn't understand how to just be about its subject: California/Napa vintners gaining international respect after a blind taste test against the French wineries in 1976.

The film could have been a real love story to wine, winemaking and the (snobby) culture of wine consuming of the era, but it gets far too bogged down in individual characters and sorry attempts at providing dramatic and romantic story arcs. It's wildly unfocused at the task at hand, losing sight of the real draw, Alan Rickman as the sommelier mastermind behind the duel.

We instead get a real dogshit arc about Chris Pine as the aimless hippie son of a winemaker who needs to find his purpose and also prove himself to the cute intern that's working for his dad (Rachael Taylor wasted in an utterly pointless and thankless role). Meanwhile his dad (Bill Pullman) is close to losing the vineyard, it seems merely because the film has to have stakes. It does Gustavo (Freddie Rodriguez) so dirty, both as a red herring for the saviour of Napa and also as a love interest for Taylor. The soil may be in his blood but the film, despite making claims to the contrary, can't see past the fact that he's not blonde-haired, blue-eyed Chris Pine. It's pretty ugly (I get that the film is loosely base on a true story, but regardless of the truth, it doesn't care enough to adapt Gustavo into any rewarding or uplifting character arc). 

There's a cute scent at the airport, and the discovery of the "perfect chardonnay" is an interesting segment, but they're fleeting moments from a better movie. Even the ultimate face off, the grand blind taste test, is robbed almost entirely of any grace or intrigue. I think to foodie movies like Chef or Big Night which just luxuriate over the food and food prep as almost the point of the film, and that's what's sorely missing here, the camera's love affair with all things wine. The loveless opening title shots of Napa Valley tip this hat instantly...feels more like boring stock footage that anything resembling romance.

Skip it. Go rewatch Sideways. 

Can You Ever Forgive Me

Twenty-for-Seven #19 (Day7)
2018, d. Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood) - Crave

The wife and I had intentions to go see this film in the theatres back in 2018, but just never made it out.  As it usually happens, if it's not a big blockbuster Marvel or Star Wars film, we have a much harder time making the effort to get out of the house for an evening.  After seeing it garner a whole host of award nominations, it remained fairly high on the "to watch" list, but even once we had access to it, finding the right time to watch meant we put off watching it for months. 

This is a great movie about a genuine curmudgeon and gifted writer Lee Israel who famously had forged over 400 celebrity letters, written in their voice, and sold them to book shops and memorabilia stores around New York.  Writers and performers would save their showmanship for their writing and the stage, so their communications with friends and acquaintances were likely a lot drier than people would have hoped.   So Lee's ability to find the voice, especially the tone of humour, meant she was providing people more of what they wanted out of such treasures than what they usually got with the more authentic items.

The film is a wonderful profile that doesn't just examine Lee Israels' crime, but her desperation, her insecurity, her depression, and most of all, her talent.  Her sardonic nature may be difficult to engage with face-to-face but from an outside perspective she's absolutely hilarious.  Comedy loves a curmudgeon.

In the time that she started forging letters, she also formed a friendship with Jack Hock, a post-middle-aged gay man, surviving life on the streets with fabulous energy and vigor.  Lee generally has a hard time connecting with people, but Jack is so her speed.  His energy seems contageous and he is just as quick with a barb as Lee.  Plus they like their drink.

But forging letters, especially at the pace Lee seemed to be doing, it was only a matter of time before suspicions were raised.  Things fall apart for Lee and Jack, both with their duplicitous gig and with their friendship. 

Melissa McCarthy and Richard E Grant both deliver award-worthy performances here, real captivating, fully inhabited chararacters.  Both won many critics awards (as did the screenplay) and despite high praise and Oscar Nominations, it made little to no impact at the box office (barely making its budget back).  It's a terrific film that will no doubt grow in reputation and appreciation as time rolls on.

I Saw This!! Hodgepodge

I Saw This (double exclamation point) is our feature wherein Graig or David attempt to write about a bunch of movies they watched some time ago and meant to write about but just never got around to doing so.  Now they they have to strain to say anything meaningful lest they just not say anything at all.  And they can't do that, can they?

In this edition of "I Saw This!!" Graig covers:

The Heat (DVD)
Argo (DVD)
The Station Agent (Netflix)

Masterpiece Contemporary: Page Eight (Netflix)
21 Jump Street (Netflix)

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The Heat (2012, d. Paul Feig), not to be confused with Michael Mann's epic Heat (no "The"), from what I can recall is formula buddy-cop comedy in the 1980's vein, but with a gender twist.  Paul Feig reunites with Melissa McCarthy, whom he made into a superstar with his stellar Bridesmaids vehicle, and puts her here as the crazy cop partner to Sandra Bullock's straight-laced, uptight FBI agent.  McCarthy is heavily rough around the edges, a Dirty Harry-style cop who plays by her own rules and scares the crap out of everyone.  She wears a consistent set of ratty clothes that strains to be called a wardrobe and lives in a bachelor apartment where her fridge doubles as a weapons locker.  Bullock meanwhile is so up her own ass she's ostracized everyone around her in the Bureau, and she thinks that not caring who she steps on or alienates is the only way to succeed unaware that it's what's holding her back.

At this stage I don't even recall the plot of the film.  The characters, though, were strong and enjoyable.  Bullock is a likeable actress who routinely appears in terrible, treacly roles, so it's nice to see here here able to let loose, and next to the improv machine that is McCarthy she does manage to keep up, though at the same time it seems that McCarthy holds back in order for her to do so.  The Heat is a pleasing film, but unessential.  There are mentions of how it should be important, both being a comedy and a buddy-cop film that stars two female leads, and that it was successful it is important, but beyond the gender spin there's nothing that stands out here.  That said, were there to be a The Heat 2, I would be game for it.

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Ah, the Ben Affleck career revitalizer, the Oscar-winning film for which he was snubbed as best director with much ballyhoo.  The "based on a true story" film that equally, controversially omitted large swathes of truth from its true story.  The film that turned it's catch phrase against itself from "Argo fuck yourself" to "Argo, fuck yourself".

I watched Argo (2012, d. Ben Affleck) after all the awards, acclaim, and backlash had already subsided, and I went into it being firmly in its corner, but as the film progressed, it slowly eroded my good favour.  Argo isn't a terrible film, but it's a burdened one.  The weight of being an Oscar-winning film puts it under a much finer microscope, and it can't stand up to that kind of scrutiny.  Beyond the hoopla, it has some definite moments and great intensity at times, but it takes such liberties with an incredible true story that it turns it into yet another dull Hollywood film.

The cast is indeed uniformly excellent (although the non-Hispanic Affleck's vanity casting of himself as the lead is a bit of a sour note) and the film looks great, but when the story descends into its final act of bullshit, with the operation in jeopardy because of a ringing phone, and jeeps chasing down a plane on the runway, it's like all the already loosened threads just let go.  It's such a hack final act, one that betrays the true story for the hoariest fiction, it's kind of inexcusable.  That it was even considered for an Oscar, nevermind winning one, was a genuine shock.

As David points out in his review the film almost altogether excises Canada's role in The Canadian Caper, or at least criminally diminishes it.  Equally it omits some of the background of where Argo, the fake film within the film, came from.  There's a Kickstarted documentary about the story that became Argo (originally an adaptation of Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light) that looks very interesting, and probably a lot less frustrating than this major motion picture.

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I saw The Station Agent (2003, d. Thomas McCarthy) back when it was first released on DVD and loved it completely.  In the years since my only real takeaway was how awesome Peter Dinklage is (a fact that the world at large has come to know) but beyond that the finer details of the story or its characters had escaped me.  A re-watch was long overdue.

The film more than holds up a decade later.  McCarthy has an assured style and pace to the film, a light drama about three lost people.  Dinklage is Finn, an insular train enthusiast who works in a model train shop.  When the owner of the shop dies, he leaves Finn his small plot of land which happens to house an abandoned rail station.  Finn, with little to tie him down, moves in.  Out front is Joe (Bobby Carnavale) who commutes in from Jersey, keeping his ailing father's food truck running.  Outgoing and energetic, he's bored of the small town hicks he has to interact with, and with Finn he finds someone more interesting to (attempt to) pal around with.  The duo become a trio when Finn is almost run over (twice) by Olivia (Patricia Clarkson), a self-employed artist living at her summer cottage following the dissolution of her marriage after the death of their child.  There's a lot of baggage these people carry in their hesitant friendship with one another, and it constantly threatens to divide them.

The Station Agent is ultimately it is a film about making friends and being a friend, and how much it can mean for lonely people to have someone to relate to.  Finn, Joe and Olivia are all outsiders to the town, but at the same time it's not like the feel they belong anywhere else either.  There are other forces in play, like redneck townies, a young latchkey girl Cleo who follows Finn as he walks the tracks, and a teenaged and pregnant librarian girl who's sweet on Finn but obviously having a crisis of her own.  The cast is phenomenal, including an amazing array of supporting players like Michelle Williams, John Slatterly, Jo Lo Truglio and Richard Kind.  McCarthy came out of this as a definite find, and his follow-up, The Visitor is a bit more difficult to watch but equally rewarding (I still need to see Win Win...I'll add it to the Netflix queue).

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Speaking of Netflix, I would have never found this Masterpiece Contemporary feature, Page Eight (2011, d. David Hare) were it not for Netflix's bot suggestion (likely a result of watching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).  What a great little British spy film, a TV movie but with a stellar cast.  Bill Nighy is the lead, as a career MI5 agent late in the game.  He's been through everything, and his handler, played by Michael Gambon, who is also his best friend (who also married his ex-wife, the great Alice Krige) dies suddenly, leaving him a rather incendiary document that details illegal CIA operations and the British Prime Minister's complicit knowledge of them.

It's an intriguing modern spy story, where the system looks in on itself and finds its own morals, standards and practices lacking, and the lengths that those in power will go to both hold power and destroy their opposition, all in the name of democracy supposedly.  Beyond just the compelling story there's also an intriguing character drama here.  Nighy's still obviously affectionate towards his ex-wife, he's got a strained relationship with his successful artist daughter, and the cautious flirtation with his neighbour (Rachel Weisz) has him questioning whether or not she's all she appears to be.

Going rogue, to steer clear of any systemic corruption, Nighy cautiously navigates a world he once new well, but has changed wildly since he was at his peak (I love seeing Nighy at a computer, obviously he's been trained how to use one, but he hunts-and-pecks as he types) and leaves him unsupported and exposed.  Nighy still has contacts, however, which includes Ewen Bremner providing yet another ace cameo.

I would love to see more Johnny Worricker stories.  Modern day espionage starring a seasoned veteran, not playing action hero but instead exploring serious intrigue is sorely lacking.

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Looping back in on my comments about The Heat, 21 Jump Street (2011, d. Phil Lord and Chris Miller) is a buddy cop movie that doubles as a teen comedy and triples as a genre spoof and quadruples as a TV remake brought to the big screen.   Even with all that, it's almost the same film as The Heat in terms of tone and dynamic, though it's twisting of its source material and genre skewering elevate it somewhat.

Channing Tatum really comes out in this role as a likeable, vulnerable and charming meathead, while Jonah Hill sheds a lot of his more bracing and annoying character traits to equally provide an accessible and likeable character.  The plot pulls things along, but the film is smartly more an exploration of the characters and their on-again/off-again antagonistic relationship with one another.  Tatum was Hill's bully in high school, the popular jock taking pains to put down the nerd at any opportunity.  When they come face to face at the Police academy, they realize that the physical limitations of one and the ineptitude of the other could be to each other's advantage, and a friendship is born.  But when they're enrolled in the revitalized Jump Street program to suss out crime in high schools, their roles are reversed, with Hill playing the popular kid and Tatum hanging with the nerds.  Naturally they come to blows over this dynamic shift but equally have more sympathy for each other's past.

Directors Lord and Miller are personal favourites but their forte truly is in cartoons.  Clone High, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, and the Lego Movie have all allowed them to exercise their very specific sense of humour with rapid paced quips, site gags, and an unreal physicality.  This, their first live-action production, finds various "Lord and Miller" moments seeded throughout, but not nearly in the same volume as their gag-machine animated efforts.  Their decision to focus on characters is perhaps the wiser one, and they seem to favour retaining improvised moments rather than structured comedy, which is perhaps partly a result of Hill's more extensive creative involvement as producer and scriptwriters.  The problem is perhaps there's too much story and too much improvisation making the film seem overlong and overstaying its welcome.  It's a bit of an exhausting effort, even though it's truly enjoyable throughout.  A sequel was inevitable, yet not altogether unwelcome.  Hopefully with Lord and Miller's "Lego Movie" success they manage to have a even more of their comedic voice injected into the picture.

What I should note most resoundingly about both 21 Jump Street and The Heat is that I have no standout gag I was left with.  In both I enjoyed the characters tremendously but for comedy features, there should be quotable lines and set pieces that stand out, but nothing comes to mind.

American Hustle

2013, David O. Russell

At this point I'm a few years and a few Oscars behind on David O. Russell's career.  I need to take a step back into Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter and I think I need another couple of runs through I Heart Huckabees.  I've heard little but good things about his previous award-bait efforts, and likewise the early buzz on American Hustle was that it was another solid contender for best American film of 2013.  The trailers looked funky and the cast a dynamic collision of those previous two films, all built around a true story in early 80's, post-disco decor.  It was all wood paneling, permed hair and flowing rayon.

The promise of American Hustle was the fun of watching swindlers swindle, at first for their own benefit, but then for the good of the people.  But that promise (or premise rather) didn't quite pan out so much.  Christian Bale is the film's lead as Irving Rosenfeld, a confident and cautious lifelong huckster, owning a chain of legit dry cleaning and window replacement operations, as well as making some solid coin on the side with loan fraud.  He meets and connects immediately with Amy Adams' Sydney Prosser, whose convincing (for 1980) fake British accent they use to draw even more suckers into the scam.  Their partnership is romantic as well as enterprising, but the hitch is Irving's wife and stepson, the former (Rosalyn, played by Jennifer Laurence) who has him in a vice grip of twisted emotions and the latter who he refuses to lose in divorce.

But things only become more complicated when Sydney gets a little to eager with a deal that Irving is uncomfortable with, and she gets busted by eager FBI upstart Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).  DiMaso uses Irving's emotional ties to Sydney to get him to cooperate in a hustle of his own, which starts out as taking down other notable shysters in New York and quickly balloons into taking down corrupt politicians through entrapment.  Richie's key focus is on New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), with his eyes constantly wandering to Sydney.

The "hustle" of American Hustle is as much an emotional one as a monetary one, if not moreso.  The romantic manipulations of Sydney, Richie, and Rosalyn make it very difficult to trust anything that they're doing, but through it all Irving rarely lies about how he feels in any given moment or about anyone.  With Sydney and Richie, running a con is an act, but Irving's mantra is you have to live it and believe it.   Part of the trouble, though, is as a viewer one is never quite certain where you are at any time with anyone other than Irving.  Is it a testament to the cast's acting ability that they can act believable when they're acting in character, and equally act somewhat unbelievable when they're in character as their character?  Cooper particularly excelled at looking somewhat shaky when running a con, but I'm still not certain that's a good thing.  Was it an acting choice on his part to convey that he's "in charater" as his character, or was it just his character getting close to blowing his cover?

As much as Bale was the POV center of the film, and was excellent in conveying the mounting weight of the operation, both physically and emotionally on him, he also seemed to be slightly out of step with the rest of the movie tonally.  There was a darkly comedic bent to the film that seemed to subvert so much of the weightiness, but Bale seemed almost incapable of joining in.  Scenes between him and Renner were amazing, though, and likewise Cooper and Adams managed to navigate the tonal shifts within a scene expertly, but it was Jennifer Laurence who destroyed the screen.  She got to be the loose canon, slightly unhinged, a bit scatterbrained, and very, very sly, Rosalyn was built to be a scene stealer and Laurence took every bit.  It was unfortunate then that the relationship between her and Bale seemed off.  Arguably it was supposed to feel off, but there was absolutely no chemistry between them, and the obvious age gap was left ignored.

There were a couple supporting MVPs, the first being Louis CK as Ritchie's boss in the FBI whom Ritchie pushes around with a furious vigor.  The arc that plays out between the two could have supported a film on it's own, it was hilarious and delightful.  CK talks frequently about how mediocre an actor he is, but he definitely undersells himself, particularly in the sad sack department.  The second MVP is a cameo that's best left unspoiled.

I thought the acting was universally phenomenal in American Hustle, with incredible sets and wardrobes, a real feast in many regards, but in the end I didn't love the film.  I found it meandering too often and its plot more convoluted than necessary with the stakes seemingly ever-changing and not all that clear.  Beyond that, as great as the acting was, the characters weren't easy to invest in.  Outside of CK and Renner's roles, which were victims in a sense, the main quartet never seemed to demand that you root for them, and it leaves it feeling a hollow experience.  It's close to an amazing film with somewhat of a bum story.

3 short paragraphs: Bernie

2011, d. Richard Linklater

Set in small-town Carthage Texas, Bernie is the story of Bernie Tiede, an undertaker at the town's mortuary.  He is a kind and giving man, compassionate and empathetic, and exceptionally well-regarded around town.  He seems a man not completely devoid of ego, but certainly unaware of it.  He's selfless to a fault, which is how he winds up being the devoted companion to Marjorie Nugent, the widow of the town's most prominent businessman, and a complete and utter bitch of a woman.  She is universally reviled around town, disliked by her own children, and if she cares at all about how she's perceived she never lets on.  Only Bernie is able to crack through the facade, or so he thinks, until he learns that it's not a facade at all, she's really that mean, bitter, angry and selfish a person.

It would be lazy to say that Jack Black plays against type, because Black has shown this kind of range before.  He's a skilled and thoughtful performer, and typically every move and gesture he makes seem intentional.  Here he inhabits Bernie's reserved, charming persona, speaking gently and sweetly, building layers into the character, most of which remain hidden but definitely there.  He has a very specific physicality and deliverance that he never breaks, the comedy/musician Jack Black is never revealed.  He even sings sweet hymns without a single trace of scatting.  Shirley MacLaine, meanwhile, is thoroughly unlikable as Marjorie, but it's fairly easy to play such a role.  It's the moments where Bernie tries to unveil Marjorie's inner beauty that MacLaine excels, momentarily letting just a hint of softness show in the lines on her face, just to reset and steel themselves again.  Matthew McConaughey gets a plum minor supporting role as the popular town sheriff who decides to take the unpopular opinion and ride Bernie and his inevitable crime hard.  It's just one of the many roles McConaughey has taken in recent years to reset his career, and be seen as something other than the jokey, shirtless, drawling stoner.

Director Linklater seems utterly fascinated with Bernie's story, and his obvious interest is the true draw of the film.  It's a rather slight story that could be presented any number of ways, but Linklater delivers it even handedly.  He's quite obviously charmed by Bernie Tiede and wants the viewer to see that too.  He also doesn't seek to excuse Bernie's crime, or to say that he should go unpunished, but instead present that he was treated unfairly by the law in the severity of his punishment.  Linklater uses a talking heads testimonial device, interviewing actors playing the townsfolk to give their generally favourable opinions of Bernie.  For the most part these talking heads are amazing, to the point where I was wondering if they were actual townsfolk of Carthage (that is until they started appearing in other scenes).  It's a gentle movie, that despite it's darker third act, is still somewhat uplifting.