Oscar 2013: August: Osage County (spoilers)

I saw an LA production of August: Osage County about three years ago.  And, to be completely honest with you, there isn't a lot of it that I remember.  I do recall myself and my friend enjoying ourselves, and the 3.5 hours (there were two intermissions, I think) flying by.  There was a huge cast that revolved around a house, the patriarch went missing, and the matriarch (played by Estelle Parson) was pretty unhinged (as a lot of her characters are).  Was it not memorable, or do I just have an awful memory?  Well, I sat down recently to read the play (which really aren't intended to be read) to jog my ability to recall, which was a pretty fruitless, but pleasant effort.

The Westons are an old multi-generational Oklahoma clan headed up by Beverly (Sam Shepard, perfectly cast) and Violet (Meryl Streep).  The play starts with the patriarch interviewing a Native American housekeeper Johnna (Misty Upham) to help keep up their Pawhuska estate, as they are both getting on in the years, and his wife isn't so prone to running a tight ship as it is.  He goes missing, which brings the family members in from all parts of the country.  Violet's sister Mattie Fae Aiken (Margo Martindale) drags her lazy husband Charles (Chris Cooper), and their socially awkward and unemployed adult son Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch) eventually follows them from about an hour out of town.  Eldest sister Barbara Fordham (Julia Roberts) is the next to arrive with her professor husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and their daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin).  The Colorado-based couple is going through a rough patch in their marriage during a time that their teenage daughter is learning to push their buttons and act out.  Youngest sister Karen (Juliette Lewis) travels in from Florida with her boyfriend Steve Heiderbrecht (Dermot Mulroney), whom she met working in real estate.  Middle sister Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) never left Pawhuska and remained as the only child to help take care of the parents.  A childhood friend Deon Gibeau (Will Coffey) who is now a Sheriff also has a noticeable part.

Upham, Streep

The writing is snappy and entertaining, with some fucked-up twists.  I can't imagine the Christian Coalition not circling the wagons with all the content (oh the filth!) in this film, especially the third act (if the playwright retained two key plot developments).  From my understanding, Tracy Letts (Bug, Killer Joe) sustained the integrity of his play while adapting it for the film, removing minor elements and adding a few things.  Otherwise, the melodrama gets to be a bit episodic and obvious at times.  People give their histories without being prompted; skeletons, both big and small, come out of the closet.  The writing is good, but it's not always perfectly smooth.  As a minor aside, even though the play was finalized in 2008, it feels a bit dated from a technology standpoint.  I imagine the movie made the necessary adjustments, unless they kept it "period," which may or may not work.  While the film should feel "now," this is also a family who seems like they couldn't keep up and got left behind.

There's weight to the play, but it's more subtle.  Its meanings are more implied than literal.  Some of the more apparent themes deal with the displacement of the Native Americans, a deconstruction of the American Dream, and soullessness of the white experience.  These characters are damned if they do and damned if they don't.  There are no escapes or characters to latch onto, save Barbara.  Though, she may resort to physical violence on a couple of occasions, there's an empathy that, at the very least, explains her (re)actions.  She assumes the Herculean task of keeping everything from falling apart, but even her efforts are pointless.  In the end, she gives the audience no answers or hope.  No one taught her how and she wasn't able to learn on her own, destined to repeat the mistakes of her ancestors.  Karma's a bitch and it ain't ever letting up.

Streep, McGregor, Roberts

On the surface, there are a lot of mechanics in this story about the heartland that is pretty unforgiving of its townsfolk.  Everyone is either buried by their podunk lives or dissatisfied from having escaped them, not being sure that things could have been worse if they stayed behind.  There is not a lot of love in this family.  This black comedy is full of laughter, but is imbued with a depressing darkness.  Its commercial prospects will largely depend on how well Wells can invite the audience in to the lurid details of the Westons.  It'll be interesting to see how well he will get us invested in this pitiful family full or bickering and sardonic asides and introduce some much-needed heart.

Cast & Crew shot

Some prognosticators have not put this film in their top ten (or nine), which I personally find hilarious.  1) This is TWC's crown jewel for 2013.  Harvey Weinstein gets at least one picture (usually the most obvious) into the Best Picture field, and sometimes even two (or three, even pre-2009).  2) Do we need a second reason?  Director John Wells cowrote, directed, and executive produced several episodes of ER during its initial seasons.  The NBC hit was a landmark show that Entertainment Weekly proclaimed led the way of the "New Golden Age of TV" back in the mid 1990s (take that for what you will).  Being only his second feature, Wells is surely untested, but with a screenplay and story as strong as the material at his disposal, along with the acting talent involved, one could surmise this film could sleepwalk its way into a field of +5.  I doubt this has any chance of winning, but surely it will be part of the mix, with Wells being on the bubble for a nod and Letts looking at possibly winning.

The real question is just how many acting nominations will this movie receive.  Best case scenario is four, lowballing it at two.  The only category it doesn't qualify for is Best Actor.  Its two leads are truly the mother and daughter roles played by Streep and Roberts, though it's unclear just how both will be campaigned.  Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton were nominated for lead Tonys with the former winning.  However, this isn't a Thelma & Louse situation.  They aren't both on stage (in the frame) most of the time.  Barbara is missing from the first scene, but, once she arrives, almost never leaves.  I had forgotten how big her role is.  She dominates the play as a martyr hero who tries to hold the family together.  I imagine this part will do for Roberts what she couldn't do in Closer, Barbra being more of her speed than Anna.  Only category fraud could put her in supporting and that move would only be employed if the plan is for both her and Streep to win.  Or, maybe I have it all wrong and it will be the other way around.  Chicago makes me think about how this will be framed and whose perspective this will be told through.

le Streep

I remembered Violet being in the play more than she actually is.  She's absent, sometimes missing for whole chunks, but her presence is almost always known.  She's a passive-aggressive prescription addict who manipulates those around her and feels sorry for herself.  The role is juicy role beyond belief, especially when her meds kick in.  There are some humdinger lines and she gets most of them.  Oh my.  Slurring her droll deliveries, I can imagine Streep having too good a time going off her rocker.  I kept fitting in some of her characters from past films--the ones from her comedy phase in the late 80s/early 90s like She-Devil and Death Becomes Her.  Obviously, not the right notes to be hitting for a much more earnest film.  Violet also repels people, like her Eleanor Shaw.  How will Streep fare sinking in her teeth while pulling herself back from being too hammy?  She's the consummate professional, though, and I'm sure will deliver an original three-dimensional performance.  Though I was convinced Streep would be campaigned as lead, I'm only 95% sure now, if that's even a significant number.  I will still have a difficult time seeing her being pushed as supporting, just because it's such a showy role.  I have a hard time seeing Streep playing second fiddle to Roberts.  Additionally, I imagine it's Streep's name that will be first on the marquee.  And, if it's Streep for a win, is she really going to settle for supporting?  She's Meryl Streep!  Go big or go home.  Still, the buzz has been very strong for Roberts.

I may have also overestimated Margo Martindale's chances.  On paper, Mattie Fae didn't jump out at me, though I imagine Martindale will still do wonders.  I relied too much on the fact that Rondi Reed won the Tony and thought, oh, well Martindale is certainly getting a nod!  I'll still keep her in the top five and make up my mind when I finally see the film, as I imagine she probably brings her to life as Reed did.  And, remember too, they could have gone with a bigger name, but they didn't, so there's probably something behind her casting.  As far as other exclusively best supporting actress possibilities, some early buzzers have singled out Julianne Nicholson as impressive.  As far as the males, the early screening scuttlebutt puts Cooper with the best chance at a nod, if any.  We'll just have to wait and see.  Editor: Stephen Mirrione (Babel, Traffic).  Cinematographer: Adriano Goldman (Jane Eyre, Sin Nombre).  Production Designer: David Gropman (Life of Pi, The Cide House Rules).

Previous Editions:

American Hustle     August: Osage County     Foxcatcher     Fruitvale Station     Out of the Furnace     Prisoners     Saving Mr. Banks     The Secret Life of Walter Mitty     The Way, Way Back

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Oscar 2013: Foxcatcher (spoilers)

I recently read the script to Foxcatcher, based on the unusual true story about multimillionaire John du Pont who indulges various hobbies and decides to open up a facility on his property to train Olympic-level athletes.  E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman based their screenplay on Mark Schultz's biography.  Both Schultz and his brother Dave were world champion and Olympic gold medal wrestlers in the 1980s who trained at du Pont's Foxcatcher compound which met with a tragic ending.  The copy I read was a version from July 2008, so there's a good chance that plenty has been modified since (and hopefully too).  When it comes time to market the film, Sony may decide to conceal the ending, for all I know.  For purposes of discussing the script in the context of its Oscar hopes, I still try to avoid a major spoiler, which you may already know about (seeing how it happened in real life and you can look it up yourself).

Mark (played by Channing Tatum) is a gold medalist from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, which the Soviet Union boycotted, after the United States refrained from participating in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.  He lives in the shadow of his older brother, and wants to recapture previous glories and continue to realize his full potential.  Dave (Mark Ruffalo), on the other hand, segued into coaching at various colleges, and finally Foxcatcher, which included guiding Kurt Angle to a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics.  Mark falls on some hard times, having no income as a coach nor success with his more entrepreneurial efforts, and also having severed ties from his parents as a means to focus his desire on becoming a champion wrestler.  After soliciting his talents and image to the best of his limited abilities and resources, du Pont (Steve Carell) finds and invites Mark to join him on his estate, along with a team of other athletes in training, buying his time and abilities (like he does everything else in life).  Du Pont is a man imprisoned by his blue blood fortune who still lives with his mother and there's a subtle contrast in the script between the dependence each man demonstrates.  They develop a close relationship, with du Pont dazzling Mark with all his money and connections, while it becomes apparent that he's using the star wrestler to service his own ego in the image of his community, and they both soon lose sight of their original goals.  Dave initially resists, but eventually relents to du Pont's insistence to coach his brother, and moves his entire family to the training facility.  Mark chokes at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and leaves Foxcatcher before things end fatally.

From the script, Du Pont is a millionaire who has never had to work hard for anything in his life, so he's completely incognizant of the belief, dedication and consistency it takes to succeed.  He's only concerned with titles and positions, not what it takes to earn them, preferring that everyone call him 'coach.'  Yet, ironically, he's more a student, and an insolent one with no desire to learn at that.  He's depicted as a nationalist who is overly prideful in his United States.  He envisions using his fortunes to a create a super wrestling team to fulfill his Cold War-era sentiment of needing to beat the communists and promote American exceptionalism (so he can feel good about himself, I guess).  He's not interested in costs or means, only the juvenile idea of expressing power and dominance.  He fashions his wrestlers as his foot-soldiers to "spread the word."  The film takes a very hard line against Republicans, and thematically offers that capitalism without integrity mixed with machismo leads to chaos.  Criticisms of guns, weapons, and military excess abound.  Foxcatcher is a dark portrait of old money and patriotism appropriating a widely respected sport.

Ruffalo is bringing some 80s singlet realness here

Foxcatcher marries the macabre world of Capote with the sports content of Moneyball.  I haven't been crazy about Bennett Miller as a director, but I wonder how much he will step up to the plate and provide the efficiency of Moneyball, while steering away from the overly ponderous nature of Capote.  I'm also curious as to how far he'll go to service the film's creepier overtones.  An absorbing read for the bulk of the duration, Frye and Futterman capture the odd setting with all the appropriate accoutrements, while shaping a story about a disturbed man who tries to infiltrate a touching, brotherly bond, reminiscent of chemistry between Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale in The Fighter.  The writers lay out grand themes, that, despite their political bent, seem to be leaning in a clear and exciting direction.  But, as the climax approaches, the structure of the screenplay gives way from underneath.  The most salacious element of the story really comes out of nowhere and matters just kind of end.  The character of Dave's decision to reside and remain at Foxcatcher could have used a little finessing, also. That isn't to say that a good deal can be sorted out in the direction, and perhaps revisions, but I was left with more questions than answers.

After reading the script, I realized I totally blew its Oscar chances out of proportion in March, however.  That isn't to say that this Annapurna production couldn't be a Best Picture player, but I'm left wondering if it might end up being in fourth position on Sony's docket, even behind Captain Phillips.  Acting wise, Tatum is the lead and Ruffalo is supporting, with Carell existing between those two categories.  Tatum has an emotional moment at the end of the film, but I didn't otherwise envision him doing anything beyond the agreeable characters he has played in the past.  I could be mistaken though.  From the looks of things, Ruffalo has had a bit of a physical transformation.  As it stands, I'm not sure I see a lot of acting nominations, though Ruffalo, and perhaps Carell seem the likeliest.  How good Tatum is may dictate how Carell gets campaigned.  If I were to make a guess at this point, I would say lead.  Also in the cast is Vanessa Redgrave (as du Pont's mother), Sienna Miller (Dave's wife), Anthony Michael Hall, and Tara Subkoff.  Cinematographer: Greig Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty, Killing Them Softly). Production Designer: Jess Gonchor (True Grit, Moneyball). Costume Designer: Kasia Walicka-Maimone (Moonrise Kingdom, Moneyball).

Previous Editions:

American Hustle     August: Osage County     The Counselor     Elysium      Foxcatcher     Fruitvale Station     Grace of Monaco     Gravity     Labor Day     Out of the Furnace     Pacific Rim      Prisoners     Rush     Saving Mr. Banks     The Secret Life of Walter Mitty   

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Oscar 2013: The Way, Way Back (spoilers)

The Way, Way Back [IMDb: 7.6; 127 votes] blew audiences and studios away at Sundance in January and prompted a bidding war that resulted in Fox Searchlight paying nearly $10M for distribution rights.  I would have to check history, but that sounds pretty unprecedented.  Before last month, Fox Searchlight's hopes for an Oscar grab appeared to solely reside in this movie, but since their acquisition of Twelve Years a Slave, Way, Way may have to take a back seat to Steve McQueen's period drama.  The Sundance selection was written by Jim Rash and Nat Faxon.  You know them from cowriting The Descendants with Alexander Payne.  Rash is on Community and, without missing an opportunity, shrewdly and prophetically aped Angelina Jolie's leg in what became a huge internet meme last year during the Oscar telecast.  Faxon is the titular male of Ben and Kate.  They used their Oscar leverage to write The Way, Way Back, which also serves as their feature debut in directing.  The coming-of-age story is about a teenage boy Duncan (Liam James) who is the son of a divorcee Pam (Toni Collette) in a new relationship with Trent (Steve Carell).  He spends his summer working at a water park and finds a father figure, played by Sam Rockwell, in the unlikeliest of place.  The film chronicles Duncan's growth to find his voice and get more comfortable with himself.  The movie serves as a fictionalized memoir from the writing team.  Also in the cast is Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph, AnnaSophia Robb, Zoe Levin, Rob Corddry, and Amanda Peet.

The reviews at Sundance were pretty kind, not too maligning, but not terribly enthusiastic either, for the most part.  Countless comparisons were made to Adventureland, as well as the movie wanting to be set in the 1980s, but perhaps not having the funds to quite make the transition.  Many of them described its commercial prospects similar to Little Miss Sunshine, which, was perhaps due in part to Collette and Carell being in the cast.  My early instincts suggest that its best Oscar chances lie with original screenplay and Sam Rockwell, with a longshot for Janney.

Twitch adored the film and they devoted separate paragraphs to both Rockwell and Janney.  The Hollywood Reporter thought it to be funnier, and less nostalgic than Adventureland.  Additionally, it singles out Rockwell, as well as Janney.  First Showing gave the film a 7.5 and found the movie to be nothing new, but still fresh, citing the sharp script and strong performances.  They thought Janney was hilarious and Rockwell to be best in show.  Film School Rejects gave it a B and asserts that the movie treads on familiar territory, but rises above the crowd of teenage films over the years.  They found Rockwell and James to be best-in-show and that Janney was in a completely different film.  Variety thought the script was familiar and relied heavily on the cast, which was funny.  They ultimately enjoyed the movie, citing Janney as their favorite.

The Film Stage said that despite the rote premise, the characters were unique, and they loved Rockwell.  SlashFilm awarded it a 7 and found it fine, but unremarkable.  They enjoyed Carell.  Collider gave the film a C- and found James insufferable, but they liked Rockwell and Janney.  IndieWire gave it a C+, citing it as inferior to Adventureland.  It was just way too paint-by-numbers for their tastes.  They loved Janney and Rockwell and abhorred Carell.  I question their judgment, however, as they very bitterly revealed what I think may have been a minor spoiler (no one else mentioned it, but one alluded to it very ambiguously).  There's no need for that, unless the film was an absolute waste of time.  I'm looking at you, Eric Kohn. As I can tell, you gave it a "C+" and not an "F."  So, have a little respect for your readers, a'right?

Previous Editions:

American Hustle     August: Osage County     Foxcatcher     Fruitvale Station     Out of the Furnace     Prisoners     Saving Mr. Banks     The Secret Life of Walter Mitty     The Way, Way Back

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Oscar 2013: Fruitvale Station (spoilers)

This past January, at Sundance, like always, several notable acquisitions were made.  And like most any year, one or more of them will find a little Oscar glory come early next year.  Beasts of the Southern Wild, Winter's Bone, and Little Miss Sunshine being bright past examples.  How will 2013's crop fair?  There are plenty of movies which got singled out in reviews for one thing or another, and a good deal of them got picked up for a tidy sum.  If we look at the studios who are the usual suspects at the Oscars, we have five.  Sony Pictures Classics picked up three: Before Midnight, Kill Your Darlings, and Austenland, the former of which appears to be one to keep your eye on (and releases soon).  Fox Searchlight bought The Way, Way, Back (directed by two of the writers behind The Descendants, and likened to Little Miss Sunshine by some) for an astounding $9.75M.  I'm anxious to see how things develop for that film, especially in light of the studio having just bought the distribution rights for the unseen, much more baity Twelve Years a Slave.  And TWC swooped in and grabbed Fruitvale Station for a cheap $2.5M.  (The Oscar-untested Relativity Media purchased Don Jon's Addition for $4M, A24 grabbed The Spectacular Now for $1M, and RaDiUS-TWC bought Lovelace and Concussion for $3M and $1M respectively, among other independent purchases.)

Ryan Coogler, writer and director of Fruitvale

Fruitvale references an Oakland BART station incident which occurred four years ago in the wee hours of New Year's Day involving the fatal shooting of a young man, Oscar Grant, by a police officer, Johannes Mehserle.  Grant was black, Mehserle is white.  Witnesses say unnecessary force was used against the unarmed Grant prior to the shooting; Mehserle has testified that he intended to tase the subject (a witness verified his verbal claim to do so), but grabbed his gun instead (whether by accident or sudden fear that the uncuffed and unfrisked Grant was reaching for a concealed weapon).  Peaceful demonstrations followed immediately after, which attracted riots, and continued sporadically through the pretrial process, largely fueled by separate strains of cell phone footage that captured only part of the altercation from a distance and spread across the media and internet right after it occurred.  Mehserle was later found guilty of involuntarily manslaughter, but not-guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.  The final verdict sparked a passionate outcry of protests in the local community.

Filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who grew up in Oakland, attended USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he won a slew of awards for a series of shorts.  His feature debut Fruitvale [IMDb: 7.7; 153 users] won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance.  The movie opens with the cell footage of Grant's final night, and then depicts glimpses into his life leading up to it, where we learn he was a former convict who was recently on parole and beginning to turn his life around.  Whether or not he would have been successful will never be realized.  The film returns to his final moments and the impact it had on his family.  The Hollywood Reporter, one of the biggest supporters of the movie, was all over Coogler's direction, as well as the performances of Michael B. Jordan as Grant, Melonie Diaz as his girlfriend, and Octavia Spencer (also a producer) as his mother.  SlashFilm couldn't throw enough accolades in Jordan's direction.  Unlike Collider or Film School Rejects, they believed the film wasn't overdone or politically boxed-in at all.  In fact, they write quite the opposite, "On a level that has nothing to do with activism" the movie is "largely free of hyperbole and excess emotional manipulation."  Their only gripe is that actor Kevin Durand, who has cultivated a persona for himself as a character actor, was miscast due to his recognizability that took the reviewer out of the moment.  They gave it an 8.5.  The Film Stage agreed with the bulk of SlashFilm, and lamented how desensitized our society has become to violence.  They also loved Spencer.  Being from the area depicted in the film, the Twitch reviewer openly embraced Coogler's verisimilitude of the Bay Area and Grant's socioeconomic realities and insinuates first-hand knowledge that the movie didn't need to unnecessarily take a balanced approach to the BART police, because they are even more evil than the cell phone footage suggested they were.  First Showing gave it an 8.5 and also didn't have a problem with the melodrama and wasn't the only reviewer to compare Jordan to a young Denzel Washington.  Toh! wants you to know that they ugly cried, like, Angela Chase level of tears.  (For the record, I loved the series, but don't recall such unrelenting releases of emotion on My So Called Life; and I speak as someone with an extensive experience of ugly crying.)

There were other outlets who could appreciate the movie, but took exception to its emotional appeals that were sometimes unearned.  IndieWire gave it a B+ and thought it was a good, solid film.  They loved Jordan, but sometimes found Coogler overdirecting his story and getting repetitive.  They weren't as bothered by the ending, and were especially floored by the audience reaction towards the end.  Collider really liked it and also gave it a B+, specifying Coogler's talents, as well as Jordan's, and also pointing out how many were in complete tears during the Sundance screening.  They identified most with a protagonist who was trying to better his life, though hadn't yet completely got himself on the right road.  However, they took exception to the film's politics, which come out of the blue towards the end and rob the movie of some of its humanity.  Film School Rejects concurred and gave it a B-.  They commended Jordan's performance, as well as Coogler's script for examining the life of a person who is trying to do better, but never gets the chance to fully realize his potential.  However, despite the movie presenting Grant as a flawed human being, like Collider, they weren't as impressed with the film's artistic liberties that turn him into a defacto symbol of a victim of injustice. They didn't buy how the movie skewed unfairly against the police, asserting indisputable charges of brutality that the filmmaker fails to make a clear argument for, only assuming for the audience.  They loved the third act, but were put off by the agenda.   Variety agreed with the last two reviews, wishing the script relied less on gimmick and more on the strength of Jordan's performance, but wasn't as bothered, warning readers that if it's a martyr complex they seek, this is what Coogler delivers.

I'm a bit anxious to weigh my thoughts against these opinions, which will have to wait until the film releases on the 26th of July (originally set for October, was it a counter-programming move to avoid the Fall glut like a lot of Sundance entries end up doing?).  I wonder if my bleeding liberal heart will succumb to the film's perhaps weighted emotional appeal, or I'll be put off by the black and white approach, so to speak.  Or both.  These days, I find that I don't like to be talked down to and offered predigested opinions.  Surely, I get that Grant's death was a senseless calamity.  And I also recognize that some are motivated by racially-charged animosity.  But there are also instances where such events as Fruitvale spring out of color-blind chaos and take place without explanation; no amount of finger-pointing can turn back time or offer easy answers.  Or, perhaps, Officer Mehserle shot Grant because of imagined, deeply unconscious fears brought on by the young man's racial identity.  I have no idea, but from what Collider and Film School Rejects have to say, the movie does.

Based on the reviews, nods for Michael B. Jordan and Coogler's screenplay are practically givens.  With TWC in its corner, it may be looking at more, perhaps Coogler's direction and entrance in the Best Picture field.  This film will surely attract a great deal of attention for its hot button racial subject matter and tearjerking content.  This was TWC's only acquisition from Sundance.  Surely, Harvey Weinstein bought it for good reason.  This may be a year that Oscar (finally) spills over with black storytelling.  If so, Fruitvale may lead the way.

Previous Editions:

American Hustle     August: Osage County     Foxcatcher     Fruitvale Station     Out of the Furnace     Prisoners     Saving Mr. Banks     The Secret Life of Walter Mitty     The Way, Way Back

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Oscar 2013: American Hustle (spoilers)

Everything is coming up curlers

While it probably has changed a great deal since the Fall of 2010, I decided to read Eric Singer's American Bullshit, the script he wrote that became David O. Russell's Untitled Abscam Project (Abscam derived from "Abdul Scam," the FBI sting operation which used a fictional Sheikh Abdul Rahman to lure the crooked nature of politicians from out of the woodwork) or what has now been named American Hustle.  You can find a copy of it here.  Singer has previously written The International starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts.  The Abscam project just began shooting last month in Boston (subbing in for Philadelphia) with a star-studded cast.  But, for this post's purposes, I'm going to discuss this initial incarnation (I can't imagine the final result will be SO different).  There are twists and turns, and my recap is moderately spoilery.  Though, to be sure, there aren't any huge surprises if you're going in blind.

Bullshit begins in December of 1979 (with a great moment involving the popular boardgame Operation), but is told in flashbacks leading up to the scene, which include a short snippet of the protagonist Melvin "Mel" Weinberg as a young boy and his relationship to his struggling father who owns a glass business and gets strong-armed by the mob.  There's a clever, metaphorical moment (taken from real life) where the boy rides around on his bike breaking every window in sight with his slingshot to help his father out.  It also foreshadows the cultural climate that Melvin will have to wade through to succeed as an adult.

In the movie, Christian Bale (who worked with O. Russell in The Fighter as a drug addict) will play Weinberg, a New York Jewish con artist in his mid-50s (Bale is 39) who pawns himself off as a successful businessman connected to high-level investors.  Assisted by Maxine "Max" Gardner (Amy Adams, 38) he tricks unsuspecting clients into paying him nominal, but hefty fees, of which the mob gets a cut.  Gardner not only reels in marks for Weinberg, but she's his mistress.  Max has the sultriness of Adams' Charlene in The Fighter, and reminds me of Holly Hunter's Tammy Hemphill in The Firm.  Likely based on Weinberg's British mistress Evelyn Knight two decades younger than him, Max is rough around the edges, but also presents herself professionally.  Mel is a doting father married to Marie (Jennifer Lawrence), Melvin's younger Jewish Jersey wife (in her mid-40s during Abscam, she was his second wife and Lawrence is over two decades her junior).  Originally in the script, her name was Estelle, she was around his age, and they together had a twelve year old son.  I wonder if the major changes to the screenplay had mostly to do with O. Russell wanting to cast his Silver Linings Playbook Oscar winner as one of the main female characters.  Along with changing the age of the child, the script may have to address why Mel married and then cheated on such a young woman (unless Singer alters Mel's relationship to Gardner), when he actually did the opposite in real life.  [4/12 Note: while perhaps all of Lawrence's scenes were frontloaded into the initial portion of filming, on set photos of he suggest an involvement not seen in the script, as well as plot developments that were non-existant (the neckbrace for example; my memory sucks, but I don't remember Estelle/Marie ever getting in an accident--real or imagined)]

The main storyline, however, concerns Abscam, a special FBI-led investigation into what started with infiltrating mob activity, but, by chance, led to investigating influence peddling (taking bribes) in the highest reaches of the U.S. legislature and resulted in the conviction of several congresspersons, mostly Democrats (many more were targeted but escaped any charges, including representative John Murtha, who later became a vocal opponent of the Iraq War; footage of him meeting with Agent Anthony Amoroso and Weinberg surfaced on the internet around that time, showing him turning down a bribe "for now").  Jimmy Boyle (Bradley Cooper), who may be a composite based on agents Amoroso and John Good (or somebody else entirely) is suave and resourceful and convinces Weinberg to plead out after he busts him and Max on an array of charges.  Mel uses his connections to help Boyle catch various gangsters, including Tony Denato, who is in the counterfeit offshore CD business (or some shit I couldn't quite wrap my head around).  As it turns out, the thug deals with handsome New Jersey state senator and Camden mayor Angelo "Angie" Errichetti (played by the decade younger Jeremy Renner), who has his hand in the till of the development of Atlantic City and isn't above being bought for the right price.  Set against the backdrop of OPEC, Mel gets the idea to create a sheikh investor interested in building a casino, who will be their in to capture Errichetti.  Howard Criden, a Philadelphian attorney who serves as a liaison between many of the politicians implicated and the mafia, introduces Mel and the sheikh to another set of gangsters with ties to Meyer Lansky, who smell opportunities for greater expansion, want their cut, and put Mel between a rock and a hard place (I'm left wondering if this was a liberty taken by the script to make Mel seem more sympathetic, where, in fact, the whole situation was more insular than the film is willing to admit).  Of course, Boyle smells even bigger fish to fry and discovers a motley crew of six US congressionals in his pan, as well as members of the Philadelphia City Council and an INS inspector.  Being under the FBI's thumb, while trying to con politicians and negotiating major mob heat, Mel begins to realize that there is very little hope of getting out free and/or alive and must figure out a way to preserve himself and his livelihood in a world full of (drum-roll, please) bullshit.

This hair is ridiculous, right?

I was swept away by how fluidly the script reads, even if I don't quite understand the mechanics behind the politics and agendas (these things often fly over my head).  Boiled down, it's "the good guys" with the help of a former bad guy trying to bust everyone they can, included elected federal representatives.  Minor elements I noted in Singer's script are some innocuous homoerotic overtones, which interestingly, instead of being demeaning to gays, are more like playful prick teases.  There are celebrity cameos including Wayne Newton and Eddie Fischer.  Overall, the story masquerades as a history lesson that's really a cynical look at the American dream.  For those less educated who aren't afforded the opportunities of legitimate success, they must take what is theirs any which way they can (very Godfather).  In a country full of corrupt politicians, gangsters, and inept government officials, where the "right thing to do" is only ever done out of expediency, Mel relies on his resourcefulness in the survival of the fittest.  It'll be interesting to see how accurate the movie will be, what modifications will be made to the facts, and how the movie will withstand whatever criticism it may incur for its artistic license.  Having known nothing of Abscam before reading the script, I haven't a clue where the truth was stretched, if at all.  It appears that names were changed, and some characters were likely composites.  A google search doesn't turn up anything on most of the FBI and mob names in the script, with Lansky being the only non-fictional character (though he never technically appears in the film ... well, that's left up to the audience).

Only the politicians that were eventually implicated are actual people, as well as the protagonist Mel Weinberg and his wife (who went by the name Marie, as she's listed now, not Estelle, like in the original script).  The script presents a morally ambiguous lead who is far from perfect, yet whose imperfections are inadvertently justified by growing up in an ethically comprised country.  The United States was a great idea, like a lot of religions out there, but, whenever you have most anything involve actual people, the institution will likely be exploited as a means to a greedy end.  By default, the American Bullshit version of Weinberg has heroic elements, being a survivalist who is just playing by the unspoken rules set up by those around him.  (In other words: Don't hate the player, hate the game.)  But, in order to tell the Abscam story, Singer needed to model a character the audience could empathize with in order to be willing to join the journey.  (And it works.)  Weinberg is also a mentor figure to the FBI, as he teaches them in order to catch their high-rolling criminals, they must spend the money to put on a believable show to invite them into their world of entrapment.

I do wonder how much investigation will go into the real-life Weinberg (paging Harvey Weinstein).  After all, this is a Hollywood film about a scandal that put many Democrats behind bars.  At the very least, Republicans may use this movie for their own purposes to trumpet the crookedness of their colleagues on the other side of the aisle.  From what one can find on the internet, it should come as no surprise that Weinberg sounds like scoundrel, a character unto himself and the movie painted him in the best possible light to compete as a commercial-friendly candidate in the cinematic marketplace.  The screenplay depicts Weinberg struggling financially during the sting, but a December 1980 People article purports that the FBI compensated him very well during the investigation, which may or may not have been part of the whole facade portrayed in order to nail "the bad guys."  Here's a November 1980 Spokesman-Review article about Robert W. Green book The Sting Man (Great title; I wonder if the producers also think so and copyright stands in their way), based on Weinberg and Abscam.  According to this article in People, Mel's wife Marie committed suicide under suspicious circumstances, although nothing ever came of it.  Three months before her death, she became quite vocal about the veracity of her husband's labors.  This February 1982 Free Lance-Star article paints Mel in an even poorer light, with reports of him badmouthing the mother of one of his sons to combat her campaign against him, before and after her death, which was covered by 20/20's Hugh Downs.

An ABC interview a week before had Tom Jarriel probing Weinberg about compromising serial numbers on some household items (both YouTube clips here were posted by a user Ron Kolb who has few, if any kind words to say about Mel Weinberg).  Three years later, the Chicago Tribune interviewed him after he helped the arrest of a counterfeit designer handbag scam in The Windy City.

O. Russell, once known mostly as a belligerent type who put out quirky films, received a personality makeover (real or imagined) since the mid-2000s, and has enjoyed some incredible success, both commercially and critically, in the  last three years (and his lead actor Christian Bale has gone through a similar transformation).  Both of his last two films, The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, have scored all of the major Oscar indicators (Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Editing), and have a combined total of seven (!) acting nominations, though it didn't hurt to have TWC's hand in the latter (four of those actors return for the Abscam project).  The Fighter almost grossed $100M, and Playbook rather effortlessly passed that magical mark.  American Bullshit has the moral ambiguity and cops & robbers of The Departed with the narrative drive and components of Argo.  Yes, the math is there.  And unless O. Russell screws things up, this has Oscar written all over it, and I'm ignorant for not recognizing this sooner.  But, on another note, the hair stylings give one pause, no?  I'm not talking Dallas Buyer's Club level of pause, but pause none-the-less.  We shall see.

Whatever the case, while I originally wrote off this movie's Oscar chances as "way too obvious," I now have to reconsider this choice.  Two facts I overweighed were whether or not the movie was actually going to shoot, as well as not even having a title.   Additionally, Sony already had three major contenders for 2013 (with titles): The Monuments Men (which had still yet to shoot itself, rendering my previous logic null), Annapurna's Foxcatcher (Megan Ellison's production company is also behind the O. Russell picture), and Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks.  Incidentally, the two major 2013 Oscar players that were the last to reach principal photography are O. Russell's project and George Clooney's Monuments Men, not exactly the best of friends and it will be interesting, to say the least, if they become the two frontrunners and the media makes fodder of their history on the set of Three Kings.  Foxcatcher director Bennett Miller has also done well at the Oscars with his last two films (not identical stats to O. Russell, but not too shabby either), but one could also argue that his movies aren't as audience-friendly and pop like O. Russell's.  Where Miller's films might be guilty of possessing a sedative nature, O. Russell's work, which can be annoying, at least illicit more visceral reactions and make more money.  From the sounds of things, Foxcatcher may also be too dark for the AMPAS, especially in contrast to the amoral, but net-positive Abscam movie (I hope the studios don't blow it when they finally do come up with a title).  So, with that, I have to relent switching the two's chances around come my next Oscar predictions in the coming months.  It's pretty rare for a studio to score three Best Picture nominations, but it has been done before even in a field of five, so we'll have to wait and see just how hungry and smart Sony will be about getting its films recognized.  However, it's apparent that Foxcatcher might be rounding out the group, rather than leading the way come awards season (at least, on paper).

As far as total nominations, based on this two-year-old script, all of the regular O. Russell categories he has become accustomed to landing in will definitely be game, though I'm doubtful right now of a high actor count.  Lawrence's role is pretty small and insignificant and doesn't require her to get anymore emotional than she has in previous roles.  But, if she plays up Marie's real life personality and does so successfully, she could sneak into the race.  Adams may have a chance, as she is a perennial favorite of the AMPAS, but the role doesn't cry winner to me.  Her performance may say otherwise, however.  As for the men, Renner's part is pretty small, and Cooper's character doesn't ask anything of him that he hasn't played in the past (except for the ringlet hair).  Bale has a shot, especially if he actually goes for it and transforms himself into the actual Weinberg.  There's a parade of supporting male roles, but the only ones that stuck out for me are Lawrence Houseman, the director of the FBI for the film's purposes, and Arthur Zelnick, a powerful mobster who unwittingly gets woven into the FBI sting.  I have no idea if they remain in the latest version and who plays the roles.  Cinematographer Linus Sandgren has a resume of Swedish TV movies and made his feature debut with Promised Land last year.  Production designer Judy Becker has worked with O. Russell on his last two films, as well as Brokeback Mountain.

Am I excited for this film?  Not really after knowing the story and gotten my fill from reading the screenplay.  I can't say that I anticipate the work of O. Russell and Bale, who still seem like douchebags for past behaviors.  I know people can change, but a leopard never changes her spots, right?  And, I'd be lying if I said I had an easy time separating the artist from the person.  The project sounds like it has the potential to be a solid, entertaining effort.  (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)  It can definitely capture a good percentage of Argo's initial box-office receipts.  But, I'm not sure I'm in the mood to watch, yet again, another example of our corrupt system in a male-focused story.  Sure, it's sexy and intriguing and holds a mirror to our world blah, blah, blah, blah, but it's just not in my viewership wheelhouse, I guess.  Is it in yours?

Previous Editions:

American Hustle     August: Osage County     The Counselor     Elysium      Foxcatcher     Fruitvale Station     Grace of Monaco     Gravity     Labor Day     Out of the Furnace     Pacific Rim      Prisoners     Rush     Saving Mr. Banks     The Secret Life of Walter Mitty   

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