'Wolf of Wall Street'/'American Hustle' (2013): Short Review Double Feature

Last year, I did a double feature of ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘Django Unchained’ with my good friend, fellow movie fanatic, and co-panelist on ‘The Feature Presentation’, Matthew Goudreau. This year, the two of us did another double feature and like last year, because I’m currently busy working on my ‘Top 12 Best films of the year’ list, I’m just going to do a pair of short reviews.

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

What do you get when you take Martin Scorcese, one of the best directors of all time, Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the best actors working today, and a script, which itself is based off of a true story, written by Terrence Winter, creator of the hit HBO show ‘Boardwalk Empire’? One of the best damn films of the year, bar none; this is one incredible movie. Basically, to sum it up in a nutshell, this movie can get absolutely crazy at times, but even though it’s about 3 hours long, it never gets boring. It’s also ‘riotously funny’ (I say that in quotes because I’ll be referencing it for my review of the second film); one scene in particular that I don’t want to spoil, but I will say that it involves DiCaprio and a car, was probably the most I’ve ever laughed in any movie. DiCaprio of course is excellent as usual in the lead role, as is the rest of the talented cast, including Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaughey. The latter is only in the film briefly at the beginning but was an absolute scene-stealer. In the case of DiCaprio’s character, the movie does not glorify him (which is apparently what some are thinking from seeing the trailer). His character is actually quite the scumbag… and yet DiCaprio’s charm is still somewhat present. This is easily one of the best films of the year; what else would you expect from the talent that is involved both behind and in front of the camera.

Rating: 5/5!

AMERICAN HUSTLE

The second film of this doubleheader is ‘American Hustle’, the newest film from ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ director David O. Russell and starring a pair of leads from both of his last two films; In this case, Christian Bale and Amy Adams from ‘The Fighter’ and Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence from ‘Playbook’. This film has been getting quite the reviews from critics, currently standing at a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes… but to be honest I think it’s a little overrated in that regard. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is a bad movie. It’s just that it gets a little slow at times and I’m perplexed as to why some critics are viewing it as a ‘comedy’ because it really isn’t. The ‘general consensus’ on RT is that it is ‘riotously funny’. That fits ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ much better and in fact, I think that film deserves a better RT score (at the moment, it only stands at 77%). Heck, ‘American Hustle’ isn’t even classified as a comedy. It’s a crime drama, so what I am missing here? But despite that, the film does have really good things in it, like a great period piece design (being that it’s set in the 70’s), a really great soundtrack, and of course a great cast. As for the standouts, I’d give the honors to the two ladies in the film, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence. Adams’ character is probably one of the most developed out of the leads and while Lawrence is not in the movie that much she is a scene-stealer. Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner are all great as well. Still, I don’t think this movie’s as good to garner a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes… and I don’t think it will make my Top 12. Perhaps an ‘Honorable Mention’ but I’m not entirely sure.

Rating: 3.5/5