American Hustle (2013)

Director: David O. Russell
Writers:  Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
Cast:      Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner

Two con artists played by Christian Bale and Amy Adams are arrested by an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) who wants to use them to trap the mayor and congressmen in a corruption scandal.

The best thing about the film is that less importance is given to the plot and it is all about the characters and their relationships. The whole film builds up to the hotel dinner scene where they meet the people from mafia with Robert De Niro making a cameo appearance. That is the high point of the film and when the end comes it is a bit anti-climactic with an inevitable twist.

As stated in the beginning of the film 'Some of these things happened' and it is loosely based on the ABSCAM operation by the FBI during the 70s. It didn't do much good for the FBI as what they did was more or less an entrapment and not exactly catching people with dirt. It is a real good watch but not by any means the best film of the year like some critics are proclaiming it to be.Christian Bale stole the show for me.

Rating: 3.5/5 

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Director: David O. Russell
Writers:  David O. Russell, Mathew Quick
Cast:       Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro

Bradley Cooper plays an ex-teacher who has returned to his home after being in a mental hospital for a while because of bipolar disorder and is trying to reconcile with his wife. He hooks up with Tiffany played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is also a neurotic struggling to cope after the death of her husband, to help him in his endeavor. It is not much of a stretch to imagine how it is gonna progress from there.

The plot is very formulaic and contrived but because of the characters in it the film is an interesting watch. Some of the story progression will certainly make you cringe. Least impressive film I have seen from David O. Russell.  Didn't really deserve the critical reception it got during the awards season but Jennifer Lawrence probably deserved her academy award. She is really a terrific talent.

The film was adapted from Mathew Quick's novel of the same name.

Rating: 3/5

Flirting with Disaster (1996)

Director: David O'Russell
Writer:    David O'Russell
Cast:      Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, Josh Brolin
A young man, his wife and an incompetent case worker travel across the country to meet the man's biological parents. Its a solidly good comedy with some set piece characters thrown in.

Rating: 3/5

Spanking The Monkey (1994)

Director: David O'Russell
Writer:    David O'Russell
Cast:      Jeremy Davies, Alberta Watson, Elizabeth Newett
Ray is a promising medical student ready to begin a prestigious summer internship in Washington, which he is desperate to do.. He is forced to come back home to take care of his depressed mother who is recovering from a fractured leg, as his father was going away on a sales trip. Troublesome events leaves him emotionally confused as he and his mother are left alone together, and they develop an incestuous relationship.

This was the debut film of David O'Russell and is commendable effort considering the daringness of the subject matter. It was made on a very low budget and was well received by the critics. There is no cop out ending which is also great.

Rating: 3.5/5

I ♥ Huckabees (2004)

Director: David O'Russell
Writers:  David O'Russell, Jeff Baena
Cast:      Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Isabelle Huppert, Naomi Watts
The film is also called 'I heart Huckabees' and in it Bernard (Hoffman) and Vivian (Tomlin) plays existential detectives who help their client to find out about the meaning of their life. They believe that everything in the world is interconnected.They have a rival, Caterine (Huppert), who believes that their is no meaning to life and it is full of cruelty and despair. Jason Scwartzman play Albert Markovski who campaigns for nature (Open Spaces) and is being ousted from his coalition by Brad (Jude Law)  who is an executive at Huckabees corporation and has jumped on the bandwagon. He lives with Dawn (Watts), the model for the company ads. There is also Tommy Corn (Wahlberg) who campaigns against petroleum after the 'September Incident' and is also a client of Bernard and Vivian. As you can see this incredible sets of characters forms this quirky film dealing with existential philosophy and the meaning of life.

The performances of Wahlberg is excellent in one of the best roles of his career. All the others are great too. The film didn't do well at the box office grossing just 20 million on its 22 million dollars budget. Its understandable as the film would attract a narrow audience only.

Rating: 4.5/5