Movie Review: "American Hustle"

Recommendation: Enjoy this movie after the children have gone to bed. It is an adult movie appealing to adults for its message and character portrayal of our flaws and attempts to do better. Your child will not understand it and there are many better ways to spend your time together. Your teen simply won’t care about the story. The R rating is for sexuality and language. The four-letter words are barely noticed as the characters include them in common language, as I remember them spoken, not as expletives. Amy Adams reminds us every woman has a sensuality, and it isn’t related to the size of her breasts. Her character's consistent wardrobe of lower than low-cut outfits reminds us when you find a look that works for you, there’s no need to overdo it. No nudity thrill to be seen here. The opening scene of Christian Bale’s stomach and methodical devotion to cover his character’s bald spot could be listed as a gross-out feature, early on defining this con man’s attempts to present a better look than his genes allow. He cares, he really does.
Rating: I love this show. Movie critic Joe Neumaier describes the film expertly, “There’s a great fever-dream quality to David O. Russell’s American Hustle that instantly reels you in.” With our easily distracted moments of phone calls, family, pets, snacks, and a laptop computer to touch, a movie needs that draw to keep you coming back to the screen. Connecting to me on a personal level held my interest. During the 1960’s I was schooled by others, but I grew up in the 1970’s.

When you reach your 18^th birthday, it is a perfect time to reflect on what you have learned to date, the facts of life you had no control over, and what kind of person you appear to be. If you don’t like what you see, the next decade, the 1970’s for me, is the time to work on you, as demonstrated by every character in American Hustle. The relationship to an actual FBI plot named Abscam is simply a nice backdrop, not for historical accuracy. I remember the brief headlines of Abscam, but as with most headlines, it had little to do with my real life in the Midwest of marriage, babies, and choices. American Hustle also doesn’t show the characters rushing off to college to find themselves, as young people are told they must do today. They were simply trying to make a life with what they saw in front of them. That is reality.

Within the last decade, I relocated from a city to a more rural area of Iowa and had to make the choice of driving great distances to see a first-run movie, or give up my obsession with the big screen. Then Netflix was invented. Now I am at the whim of their magnificent mailing system. I simply list the movies I desire, and wait my turn.

Watching movie trailers on YouTube is not how I spend my available computer time. Instead, I often select movies already recognized by award shows. When I find my tastes do not correlate with award show voters, I enjoy the power that I still retain to turn off the television after just a few moments and find something else to do. I simply place the movie in our street-side mail box and within a couple days have a new one to watch at my leisure.

American Hustle received several Oscar nominations, piquing my interest:

• Nominated for Best Picture; beat out by 12 Years a Slave. Haven’t seen it yet. Not sure I will. Obviously, it was well done.
• Christian Bale nominated for Best Actor, beat out by Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club. Haven’t seen that movie yet, either. Looks depressing. Maybe later in the summer.
• Amy Adams for Best Actress; beat out by Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine. I like Ms. Blanchett but won’t see Woody Allen’s film. His sense of humor, poor life choices, and typical story portrayal has never appealed to me.
• David O. Russell for Directing; beat out by Gravity’s Alfonso Cuaron. I appreciate Russell’s choice to show a story and not use short editing blips to distract the viewer. Those blips make me feel old as someone else’s life flashes before my eyes. The choice to turn off the television has been taken to escape the overuse of editing. As a parent educator, I am concerned about the shortened attention-span of younger people who cannot stay on task to interpret correctly what is portrayed in front of them. Time needs to be devoted to reading the whole book, instead of relying on short reviews on websites, or Yahoo flashes. Forming your own opinion is a dying skill. Letting others form that opinion for you will be mankind’s demise.
• Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell for Original Screenplay; beat out by Spike Jonze, Her. Never heard of Her. Probably won’t see it. I might see Bob Nelson’s Nebraska. Living in Iowa, Nebraska is a neighbor. (It’s to the west of us, for those map-challenged.)
• Production Design nomination to Judy Becker and Set Decoration to Heather Loeffler are worthy of mention. Since I remember the 70’s, I appreciate the subtle ways these ladies kept us in the decade without overblowing it. I enjoy Mad Men for the same reason. On this season’s opening show, the huge macramé hanging on the wall was similar to one I had created. Macramé was so easy. Some days I am easy to please.
• Becker and Loeffler were beat out by The Great Gatsby, Production Designer Catherine Martin and Set Decoration by Beverley Dunn – now that was an era of extravagance, and way before my time.
• Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten nominated for Film Editing; beat out by Gravity’s Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger. Haven’t seen Gravity yet, but can imagine the extreme need for editing when the majority of the film is shot in front of a green screen. Note my above comments on American Hustle’s director Russell’s choice to keep the movie a story being told, not a bunch of blips – appreciate it.
• Jennifer Lawrence nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role; beat out by Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave. The view of Lupita’s performance demonstrated she really sold it. Great job. Jennifer Lawrence is such a sweet, beautiful girl, who came across as a primal, unintelligent young woman with the desire to better herself (I’ve read Wayne Dyer books, too) but will never understand why she doesn’t accomplish the task. I’ve known many like her.
• Julia Roberts, August: Osage County – won’t be watching this movie. Too much family dysfunction. Lived it. Don’t need to see it again.
• Loved the old music brought to life again. I danced and sang to those tunes in my younger years.
• Achievement in Visual Effects Oscar went to Gravity, of course.
• Michael Wilkinson nominated for Costume Design; beat out by The Great Gatsby. Michael did a great job, again without overkill. Loved the fur coats. That was a different era, indeed.
• Bradley Cooper for Best Supporting Role; beat out by Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club. Cooper portrayed his character well of self-interest to stand out from the crowd of the 70’s incompetent FBI. Sorry, FBI agents, in reality the 70’s were not your best decade.

I do love it when I can get lost in actors’ portrayal of their written character, such as a New Jersey Mayor played by Jeremy Renner, instead of my mind interrupting the movie to tell me, “Oh yeah, That’s Jeremy Renner who starred in The Hurt Locker – great job. Now back to the movie.”
Hope you find time to enjoy American Hustle, too.

Letter to Rachel Canning: You are a spoiled teen

Rachel Canning of New Jersey is one lucky girl that doesn’t appreciate what her parents have done to create such an independent, strong woman. As an honor student and athlete at her private school, she claims she has no means of support and is suing her parents for private (Catholic) school costs, college, room and board, and more although she refuses to live by their house rules and moved out.

Rachel, grow up! You are now an adult. Your parents did their best and you are now stuck with the kind of person you have become.  Can the nuns at your expensive private school still look you in the eye? They must be so embarrassed to have you as a student. Haven’t you read the Bible? Honor your parents. Be appreciative of what they have given you. Get a job. I hear minimum wage might be over $10/hour soon. That’s pretty good wages from my view. Plus, you are a smart girl. Unappreciative, but still intelligent. Sounds like you know how to play the angles. Have you been taking lessons on the side from a welfare mom who knows how to get all the freebies from the government without getting a job? (Yes, that’s unfair to welfare moms who are trying to do their best, but you know there are some who play the system.)

Anyone who knows me knows I am big on House Rules. Too many families don’t bother with them, or create them and don’t enforce them. Congratulations for your parents on standing by their House Rules. Shame on you for not understanding them by now.

Attorney fees? Really? You sue your parents, then want them to pay for the attorney. That takes balls. And it disgusts me. Have you taken the time to add up all the money your parents have spent on you up to your 18^th birthday? Just because “they have the money”, doesn’t mean they have to give their ADULT child any more. You obviously haven’t appreciated what they have given you so far.  They will need to spend some of their money on family counseling, not for you, but for them. Sounds like your mother is pretty upset over her eldest daughter. She was probably expecting to share a nice friendship with you at this age that is typical when a parent has done a good job. Instead you bring shame onto the family and publicly by suing them. Shame on you.

 

Rachel, you've had your 15 minutes of fame. Get off the stage.

My Favorite Christmas Memory

At this time of year, parents everywhere are trying to make a Christmas-to-remember for their children. Stop trying so hard. Memories are made from the simple joys we share with others. 

My favorite one is when I was young. All five of us, my parents and us 3 girls sat together at the dining room table, laughing and joking over the gift box we'd received. We slowly sampled each triangle of cheese wrapped in foil, sliced the salami, and ate on saltine crackers. Vocally, without fear of a scolding, we each commented about the cheese we liked best. Dad preferred the stinky kind. Mom preferred the white ones. I liked the mild orange ones. We all loved the salami. The saltine crackers were just fine for us.

My dad worked for a cattle company. Every Christmas, he would bring home gifts from the many trucking companies who hauled the cattle to and fro for them. Besides a large gift box of cheese, there would always be a huge, several layer box of Peggy Ann chocolates. After the holidays and the box of chocolates remained in the refrigerator, one of my sisters, who I won’t snitch on by name, would sneak into the box and poke a fingernail in the bottom of each remaining chocolate until she found her favorites. Coal should have been in her stocking the next year, but never was.

The tradition of opening the cheese gift box came at the end of a long day. Both parents worked together to make us a lovely supper. We unwrapped gifts, attended the Christmas Eve Candlelight Vigil at our church, and sang Christmas carols. It was a lovely tradition.

Many years later, my mother confided in me of her struggle to spend the same amount of money on each child to equal the same number of gifts. It was important to her and not realized by her children. During the years the cattle business did not do well, she secretly made trips to the local Goodwill and repainted used toys for us in the garage. We never knew. Back then, commercials were not so strongly targeted. Children did not demand the latest, hottest new toy or gadget for Christmas.

My mother is gone now. It saddens me to think how hard she worked to make Christmas special for my sisters and I. Her own childhood holiday memories were the good fortune to receive her own orange and a few pieces of candy in her large family of 8. When our town began the annual tradition to create food baskets for the needy, Mom was first in line to help pack and deliver them in hopes of ensuring no child would be hungry at Christmas.

Dad is now 92, still able to live at home, with the help of my sister. I plan to send him a cheese basket with salami and crackers and instructions to not open until we arrive. Together, we can sample the cheeses, eat the salami, and enjoy the fancy crackers they now include in such gifts. We will talk of the old days and be proud of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren that have such a bright future before them. All because of a man who worked so hard to provide for his family and a woman who made lasting impressions shaping the giving spirit continued today through her daughters.

Tools to Build your Family

Recently, I posted my first video of my new video series, "Tools to Build your Family."

The first in the series is the key tool, "Be Consistent." Many of the moms and dads I've interviewed stated this was the wisdom they learned when their children were young.

I have so much to say! With all the research done in areas of behavior, time management, decision-making, etc. to help parents, it will be easy to make short videos of helpful advice.

The series will complement the 7 small books, only 59 pages each, I've written to reach today's parents and grandparents raising children.

So check it out, subscribe, sign on to Google to leave a comment. Let me know what you think. We all have wisdom to share to make parenting easier.