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First off, let me say this thing will be a hit. It's Russell's romcom-- whatever good or bad you read into that, it's there.
The Good:
- Bradley "Picasso Face" Cooper: the performance of his career
- DeNiro: best role for him in years
- J-Law: kinda surprised Best Actress is the buzz here, but she's had a hell of a year, and this is strong enough that it wouldn't be *entirely* a consolation for Winter's Bone, which she should have won for
- the crowd laughed consistently throughout and applauded at the end
- the final act is a REAL pleaser, full of warmth, "moments"-- everything you want in a romcom
- the depiction of Eagles fans as racist slap-happy punks was hilarious and accurate. There's actually a sad desperation around the entire issue of Eagles fandom here that sort of carries over into a larger thing about how men need sports and what we replace in our life with it. I dug.
- Russell's visuals in some scenes really worked...
The Bad:
- ... but at others seemed really ehh. This is the least polished looking film he's done imo, full of unnecessary handheld, some strange edits, and considering how it stars Hollywood stars and feels like a Hollywood ending, I'm surprised he didn't go for something closer to the more polished visual style he used in Huckabees. It's not disruptive... it just doesn't feel like an auteur film.
- the script has some fairly jarring tonal shifts. Sometimes I sensed the audience laughing at something that either (a) wasn't meant to be funny or (b) was meant to be funny but was at the expense of a character with a mental disorder. Either way, when scenes like that are put immediately next to scenes that are supposed to be touching, it undercuts the touching stuff, and as a result, I never really got misty. Prime spoiler-free example: a scene where DeNiro talks to Cooper in bed about football, where the beats feel like a joke so the audience laughs, and then immediately there's sincere emotion and confession. I wondered if it would've played better on screener without the audience's chuckles disrupting. I know Russell likes to play with the humor in moments of drama, but it prevented full emotional investment for me.
- Jacki Weaver has little to do...
- ... but not as little as Chris Tucker, whose character is entirely extraneous. It's like Russell found out he could get Chris Tucker, so he wrote a couple of scenes just for him that don't really advance anything.
Overall, I'd give it a 3 out of 4. Like I said, I'd be surprised if it's not a hit, and it certainly has all of the big moments that'll lock in Cooper, Lawrence, and DeNiro in acting categories come Academy Awards season. It just never grabbed me by the heart, though I'm absolutely sure there will be many people moved by its sincerity, especially those who have dealt with similar behavior in loved ones. My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide
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