jake-law123

Despite my rating, this is actually a well made film. It has high production values, decent acting, stunning sets, and great sound. In the technical aspects it is well directed. Regardless, it was one of the most tormenting films I've ever seen. It was such a struggle to get through. I was checking how much longer I had left like seventeen times a minute, because I just couldn't take it.

This is a film that's told smart, executed well, but the portrayal itself is horrible. Long story short, fascism is wrong, end of story. But like the Purge, it's not enough to just say it, we gotta go through a whole mess of stuff to show you why it is. Basically fascists sexually torture nine boys and nine girls for four months in a mansion. And we're talking urinating in mouths, eating poop, three way intercourse, ejaculating on each other etc. The whole film is literally just scene after scene of that. It's nonstop. All of that, as we constantly are forced to endure stories about people going through the same stuff, but enjoying it. This film loves to emphasize each character's feelings on each scene. When they eat poop, the film describes in detail everybody's experiences with eating poop, and why they are fine with it. In a strange sense, it's well told and has some interesting insight, but that does not make it any easier to watch.

Honestly though, the film as a whole is kind of boring. It really is just a matter of how shocking can we be. When it's not being depraved, it's just people in a room telling stories. There's really not much else to it.

The problem with the film is that since it's on its own sick mindset, we as an audience aren't really on the same page, so we're just seeing random acts of violence, and not really anything else. There's no clear picture or goal the film projects, just that. David Lynch films do the same thing, but at least he gives us enough symbolism to let us know what to extract from the film. This one is just showing us that these people get off on this stuff, and that's it.

One thing I found interesting was how the perspective is of the fascists themselves instead of the victims. Instead of being a standard psychological thriller about escaping, it's simply just these fascist's sick perversions and their opinions on it. They're the main characters, and they're the ones we follow. I thought that was rather interesting.

At the end of the day, this is not one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but it's one of the hardest films I've ever had to sit through. It's pretty easy to hate this film. I don't hate it, but I would never want to watch this again, or would never recommend it to anybody ever. It's a well told film with an interesting insight, but it's way too hard to sit through and it's a one note theme that they just milk for an hour and 56 minutes.

Knowing David O Russell's style, I knew going into this that I was going to have to deal with some over the top quirkiness in the characters and style, which I can usually tolerate in his films. On one hand, he handles his actors extremely well with top notch directing and handles his script very carefully as well. On the other hand, he lets his style slip out of his hands and spill out all over the screen in an over abundance of random bantering from characters, and depraved scenes of sexual frustration that get played off as comedic.

Christian Bale and Amy Adams are two con artists who are forced by an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to set up an elaborate sting operation on corrupt politicians, including the mayor of Camden, New Jersey (Jeremy Renner). Meanwhile, he has to deal with his estranged wife (Jennifer Lawrence) who constantly gets in the way of his plans. I was invested because this is the first time David O Russell has tackled crime drama. He still manages to blend black comedic undertones with the colorful, sporadic writing on the surface.

The casting and performances are probably the film's biggest strong suit. Christian Bale is hilarious and convincingly serious at the same time. Anytime he's on screen, he squeezes every last drop of investment into his character that the scene calls for, and it pays off. When he gets upset, angry, or scared, you really see it on his face. In a film like this that's really flashy, it's amazing how much emotion he displays while the audience is getting energized by the soundtrack. Amy Adams is sexy and deceitful, which we get out of every single scene she's in. Bradly Cooper is quickly becoming one of the most promising actors in this day in age. He is unpredictable in every scene he's in, but he manages to keep it straight and real at the same time. Jennifer Lawrence is unstoppable, portraying yet another emotionally distressed woman with husband problems, and no filter on her mouth. The only thing I wasn't sure about was the random Robert De Niro cameo.

One main issue I do have with the film is that the style, while entertaining, distracts from the plot. I usually encourage this behavior from Russell in previous works, but this time it left me a tad overwhelmed. It hammered itself in scenes that were completely unnecessary. The film went on a tad too long, and definitely could have trimmed some scenes that were needlessly thrown in there for stylistic purposes. The writing is solid, but the quirky character trope just throws me off at times and makes it hard to focus.

Overall, the film really energizes and excites you in each scene, making for one very entertaining film. I feel like a few people love the flashy style, which I can appreciate, even if it distracts a little. For that reason, I find it a tad over hyped, but not enough to take away any enjoyment. Russell is getting more mainstream, which is showcasing in his films. I just hope it doesn't get to his head, and I look forward to what he can do in the future.