A great acting showcase but that's all

Rating: 7/10 (13 October 2014)

The Colour Purple of the 21st century, this glamorous, super stylish albeit hollow crime drama got 10 Oscar nominations and went away with nothing. It's not hard to see why. Christian Bale and Amy Adams, 2 criminals, end up helping the FBI catch other hustlers. What follows is an endlessly complicated plot with more twists than a rubix cube, until finally we reach the end. Some of this actually happened, as the opening title card says. AH is primarily an acting showcase. Christian Bale's best actor nomination was something of a mystery, but he does more than put on weight and don a wig, and he's very entertaining. Bradley Cooper is excellent, Amy Adams is electric and is especially impressive as she has the hardest role in the film. Jennifer Lawrence steals the show from everyone and she absolutely crackles with energy. David O Russell, takes a story which doesn't need a lot of stunning visuals and fills it with vibrant camera-work while the production team do a good job recreating the 70s. Not bad for a film with some awful haircuts.
Everyone loved AH at first, but it has since faced a backlash. The hype machine strikes again. The plot doesn't go anywhere, and since it constantly spits out twist after twist you never know what's going on. It is also totally style over substance and it lacks depth and purpose. The dialogue does have plenty of energy, but it does little more than prolong the scenes. It's certainly a visually stunning movie and quite a fun one at times, but did we really need to endure endless twists, aimless banter and all of that in your face style over substance for over 2 hours? Seriously? I'm glad it didn't win best picture, because if it had it would have become the new Crash. It's not a bad movie, but if you're looking for something which is actually Oscar worthy check out any of the other 8 best picture nominees of 2013. It's bizarre how people whine and moan about style over substance yet they shower films like this, Pulp Fiction, Avatar and How To Train Your Dragon with praise even though they are completely style over substance. Still, even if it's not Oscar worthy, I still enjoyed it.
7/10