Con With No Pros

Rating: 5/10 (3 January 2014)

Although once again I find myself in the minority I am not, it would seem (from reading just the first page of reviews posted here) entirely alone. This film was released in England shortly before Christmas and I was not particularly drawn to it so I refrained from watching. But then it began to get money reviews from UK critics so I began to entertain the possibility that it might be worth a look. Today it moved to a Multiplex which is convenient to my home so I decided to check it out.
Bad move. I've never understood the fuss made about Christian Bale as to me he is barely competent as a journeyman actor. Apart from Amy Adams, who I really like, the rest of the cast was more or less unknown to me and after sitting through the film I have no plans to seek out their future work. I can understand Amy Adams wanting to get away from the wholesome image she has acquired, something of a Doris Day for nos jours, but surely she can't have been comfortable going through the whole film with her boobs practically hanging out and being obliged to say the f-word roughly once every reel. The problem is trying to work up a sweat over any character in the film. They don't actually bump into the furniture but neither do they offer polished performances; it's as if the director had been assigned a three week rehearsal period and decided after four days that the cast were ready to start shooting.