Based on the novel by Joy Nicholson, The Tribes of Palo Verdes is the story of a family who move to Los Angeles in the Palos Verdes suburbs as they adjust to their new living as a teenage girl copes with the changes in her family as she finds solace through surfing. Directed by Emmett and Brendan Malloy and screenplay by Karen Croner, the film is a coming-of-age drama that explore a young girl and her twin brother deal with their surroundings while their parents’ marriage is falling apart. Starring Jennifer Garner, Maika Monroe, Justin Kirk, Elisabeth Rohm, Goran Visnjic, Joely Fisher, and Alicia Silverstone. The Tribes of Palos Verdes is a compelling and somber film from Emmett and Brendan Malloy.
The film follows a family from Michigan who move to the affluent suburbs of Palos Verdes in California as the new environment would end up bringing trouble to the family where a teenage girl discovers the solace that is surfing. It’s a film that explores a new world for this family in the hopes they can do something new but cracks would start to emerge with a couple’s marriage crumbles with its twin teenage children watching as they each react to this split in different ways. Karen Croner’s screenplay is largely told by Medina Mason (Maika Monroe) in a somewhat reflective voice-over narrative as she talks about how her family moved because her father Phil (Justin Kirk) got a new job in California and how the move ended up destroying the family when Phil begins an affair with another woman and falls for her to the ire of his wife Sandy (Jennifer Garner) and Medina’s twin brother Jim (Cody Fern). Phil’s new life and demands at work would cause Sandy to have a breakdown while Jim becomes interested in drugs leaving Medina to make sense of everything where surfing has become an escape as she hopes to help her brother who starts to feel neglected by their father and enabled by their mother.
The direction of Emmett and Brendan Malloy does have elements of style with its recurring images of water and ocean waves as this air of tranquility that Medina craves for. Shot on location in and around Palos Verdes in California, the location is a character itself as is the home of the Mason family that has a nice backyard view of the coastal area that includes a beach where surfers surf big waves. The Malloys’ usage of wide shots definitely add to the look and tone of the film as well as capture this air of blandness that Medina describes where all of the homes have their grass cut at a certain length, their roofs featuring a specific tile, and all sorts of things. Everyone hangs out at a country club or at a party as the Malloys’ usage of medium shots and close-ups play into the intimacy of the film as well as Sandy’s trouble to adjust and try to fit in. The Malloys would also amp up the drama as it play into Phil’s new life that includes his girlfriend’s son Adrian (Noah Silver) who shares Medina’s concerns leading to a relationship between the two just as Medina’s family life starts to become undone leading her to make a stand to help them. Overall, the Malloys create a captivating and engaging film about a young woman dealing with the unraveling of her family in their new environment.
Cinematographer Giles Dunning does excellent work with the film’s cinematography to capture the sunny look of the daytime exteriors with some stylish lighting for some of the interior scenes at night. Editors Tracy Adams and Luis Carballar do terrific work with the editing as it feature bits of jump-cuts and slow-motion cuts for some scenes involving the waves as much of it is straightforward. Production designer Stephanie Hamilton Haas, with set decorator Devynne Lauchner and art director Jessica Shorten, is brilliant for the look of the home the Masons live in and the work that Sandy would do later in the film to cope with her emotions as well as the look of the house that Phil would live in. Costume designer Anette Cseri does nice work with the costumes as it has this mixture of posh-like clothing some of the residents of Palos Verdes wear to the more ragged look of the surfers.
The visual effects work of Fernando Torres Idrovo is fantastic for one key scene in the film as it relates to wildfires that would be a key moment for the film’s third act. Sound editor David Barber does superb work with the sound in capturing the sound of waves from afar as well as scenes involving parties and loud music along with some of the quieter moments in the film. The film’s music by Gustavo Santaolalla is amazing for its ambient-folk based score that play into the drama and the tranquility of the sea as it is a highlight of the film while music supervisor Season Kent creates a music soundtrack that features an array of indie and mainstream music from the likes of Jack Johnson, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti with Dam-Funk, Tomorrow Tulips, King Krule, Branden Miller, Bahamas, and Cherry Glazerr.
The casting by Rich Delia is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Elisabeth Rohm and Joely Fisher as a couple of Palos Verdes residents who alienate Sandy, Alex Knost as a famous surfer that Medina would make out with for a bit in a moment of confusion, Goran Visijnic as a man named Joe that Sandy meets in the second act as she invites him for dinner in an attempt to start a new relationship, Stevie Lynn Jones as Jim’s new girlfriend Heather, Alicia Silverstone as Phil’s new girlfriend in the real estate mogul Ava, and Noah Silver as Ava’s son Adrian who befriends Medina as they both share their disdain over their parents’ relationship as well as how it affects both of them. Justin Kirk is superb as Phil Mason as a doctor who leaves his wife for a new life as he tries to reconnect with his children only to not understand the damage he’s created.
Cody Fern is excellent as Medina’s twin brother Jim as a young man who at first fits in with the people of Palos Verdes but his father’s actions and growing alienation has him depending on prescription and illegal drugs to cope with the pain as he descends into a downward spiral. Jennifer Garner is amazing as Sandy Mason as a woman who has a hard time fitting in with her new environment as she unravels following news of Phil’s affair with Ava as she goes into denial over the severity of what is happening around her including her son’s drug use which she would unfortunately enable. Finally, there’s Maika Monroe in an incredible performance as Medina Mason as a young woman in her late teens coping with her family unraveling while discovering the world of surfing as she finds it as an escape but also a thing that allows her to belong where Monroe display a woman who is more than aware of what is happening but also find ways to keep herself sane with her family unraveling.
The Tribes of Palos Verdes is a marvelous film that features a great leading performance from Maika Monroe. Along with some strong supporting work from Cody Fern and Jennifer Garner as well as its evocative music score and soundtrack and gorgeous imagery. It’s a coming-of-age family drama that explore a family in a new environment and how the family unit cope with their world that lead to their disintegration. In the end, The Tribe of Palos Verdes is a remarkable film from Brendan and Emmett Malloy.
© thevoid99 2019
Written and directed by David O. Russell from a story by Russell and Annie Mumolo, Joy is a loosely-based bio-pic about the life of Joy Mangano as a woman who would become a self-made millionaire and run her own empire despite the dysfunctional presence of her family. The film is a look into a woman who comes from a troubled family forcing her to do things by herself as she would gain fame through a series of inventions as Mangano is played by Jennifer Lawrence. Also starring Edgar Ramirez, Virginia Madsen, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini, Bradley Cooper, Elisabeth Rohm, and Robert de Niro. Joy is a compelling though messy film from David O. Russell.
Set in 1990 upstate New York, the film revolves around a mother of two children who shares her house with her grandmother and mother while working for Eastern Airlines as a booking clerk with her ex-husband living in the basement. Yet, Joy Mangano’s life is about lost potential who had dreams to create things when she was a kid but the dysfunctional life of her family which included her father Rudy (Robert de Niro) moving in to her home after a break-up where he would share the basement with Joy’s ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez). When Rudy gets a new girlfriend in the rich Italian widow Trudy (Isabella Rossellini) and she invites Joy and Joy’s older half-sister Peggy (Elisabeth Rohm) to the boat. Joy gets an idea while cleaning spilled wine on the boat as it would be the start of an empire as well as tapping into the lost hopes and dreams she had when she was a child.
David O. Russell’s screenplay is partially told through the perspective of Joy’s grandmother Mimi (Diane Ladd) as someone who had seen Joy’s potential when she was a child and then be destroyed when her family was torn apart by divorce with Rudy going to someone else while Joy’s mother Terri (Virginia Madsen) spends much of her life in her room watching soap operas to escape from the harshness of reality. The script is often messy and can be over-the-top in its usage of flashbacks in the first act where Joy looks back at her marriage to Tony including their wedding reception in which her father embarrasses her. Joy is definitely at the center of the film as someone that is dealing with the fact that her life hasn’t gone well as she often has to deal with Peggy’s comments while Rudy often makes cynical comments though he means well. Tony is at least supportive as he would become one of the few that really believes that Joy can succeed through the invention of the Miracle Mop. Yet, would face challenges including from those who claimed to have a patent over the creation of the mop while Joy would find an outlet to sell her mop through the emergence of QVC.
Russell’s direction does have elements of style as it play into the setting and time period of the 1980s and early 1990s while much of his compositions are straightforward. Shot on location in and around Boston, Massachusetts with additional locations at Wilmington, Massachusetts, Russell would create a film that is set largely in the winter to play into the look of upstate New York where the characters live in which include the garage that Rudy owns which is managed by Peggy. There are some wide shots of the locations including scenes at the QVC studio that include this telethon studio that turns around for a different set. Yet, Russell would maintain an intimacy as it relates to the family drama where it can be overwhelming at times due to the number of people arguing over Joy in the usage of close-ups and medium shots. The film’s second act would loosen up as it relates to Tony taking Joy to a studio where she would be introduced to QVC and an executive in Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper).
The fact that the script is told partially from Mimi’s perspective does make the film tonally uneven as it would also affect the film’s pacing leading to its third act where it is about some of the business problems caused by Joy’s family over these people involved in parts manufacturing. Especially as Joy knew she had to pay certain amount of royalties to a man who created a patent for this mop as she would be forced to take control of her empire by herself with only a few such as Tony to be the ones to really support her. Her action to confront these men who are trying to ruin her would show what she has to do as it relates to the questions that Trudy has asked about what is a person willing to do to succeed. Overall, Russell crafts a fascinating though flawed film about a woman who finds her lost potential in creating things and later build an empire.
Cinematographer Linus Sandgren does excellent work with the cinematography with the look of the daytime exteriors with the usage of natural lights while going for something low-key and low for the interior scenes at night. Editors Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Tom Cross, and Christopher Tellefsen do nice work with the editing as it is stylized in some parts while it is mainly straightforward to play into the drama. Production designer Judy Becker, with set decorators Gary Alioto and Heather Loeffler plus art director Peter Rogness, does brilliant work with the look of the sets at the QVC building as well as the home where Joy and her family live in plus the garage her father owns. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson does fantastic work with the costumes as it play into something that looks casual in some parts but mainly play into the look of the late 80s/early 90s.
Visual effects supervisors Trent Claus and Gregory D. Liegey do terrific work with the visual effects as it is mainly set dressing for the look of the different places that Joy and other characters go to. Sound designers Jason King and Jay Nierenberg, with sound editor John Ross, do superb work with the sound as it play into the chaos inside Joy’s home as well as the scenes at various gatherings and at the QVC studio. The film’s music by West Dylan Thordson and David Campbell is wonderful for its mixture of orchestral music with bits of rock in parts of the film while music supervisor Susan Jacobs provides a soundtrack that mixes Latin music, pop, rock, and jazz to play into the different worlds that Joy encounters.
The casting by Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Donna Mills and Susan Lucci as soap opera actresses, Drena de Niro as a QVC saleswoman in Cindy, Jimmy Jean-Louis as a Haitian repairman in Toussaint whom Terri falls for, Madison Wolfe as the young Peggy, Emily Nunez as the young Jackie, Isabella Crovetti-Cramp as the young Joy, Aundera and Gia Gadsy as Joy/Tony’s daughter Cristy, Tomas and Zeke Elizondo as Joy/Tony’s son Tommy, and Melissa River in a wonderful performance as her late real-life mother Joan Rivers who sells things for QVC as it’s so dead-on. Dascha Polanco is superb as Joy’s best friend Jackie who helps her out with some of the business aspects in selling the mop as well as one of the few who really believes in her product. Virginia Madsen is fantastic as Joy’s mother Terri as a woman who had lost a lot of hope in reality by spending much of her time watching soap operas until she would fall for a repairman and bring some encouragement to Joy.
Isabella Rossellini is excellent as Trudy as an Italian widow who becomes Rudy’s new girlfriend as a woman who isn’t sure about Joy’s new idea as she reluctantly gives her the money only to find a way to get it back. Elisabeth Rohm is brilliant as Joy’s overachieving half-sister Peggy as someone who constantly belittles Joy to prove that she is superior and would end up causing financial trouble for Joy against Joy’s will. Diane Ladd is amazing as Joy’s grandmother Mimi as a woman who is Joy’s greatest supporter as someone who is also a dreamer and had seen a lot of the struggles the family has endured. Edgar Ramirez is incredible as Joy’s ex-husband Tony as a failed musician that doesn’t like Joy’s father very much as he would be the one to get Joy to meet with QVC and be one of her true supporters in her ideas. Bradley Cooper is terrific in a small role as Neil Walker as a QVC executive who sees what Joy has created and decides to help her sell the Miracle Mop in the hope that it would make money.
Robert de Niro is remarkable as Joy’s father Rudy as a man who means well but often embarrasses Joy while often favoring his daughter as it’s a flawed but fun performance from de Niro. Finally, there’s Jennifer Lawrence in a phenomenal performance as the titular character as a mother of two children with an ex-husband that is dealing with her life believing she’s failed until she came up with another idea as it is one of Lawrence’s finest performances.
Joy is a stellar though flawed film from David O. Russell that features an incredible leading performance from Jennifer Lawrence. Along with its supporting cast, cool score, and an engaging story that is very messy in its structure and tone. It’s a film that has a fascinating look into the life of Joy Mangano though it tends to overwhelm itself with all of the family drama and wanting to be this study into the cutthroat world of business. In the end, Joy is a very good film from David O. Russell.
David O. Russell Films: Spanking the Monkey – Flirting with Disaster – Three Kings - I Heart Huckabees – The Fighter - Silver Linings Playbook - American Hustle - Accidental Love - The Auteurs #70: David O. Russell
© thevoid99 2017
Directed by David O. Russell and written by David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer, American Hustle is about the ABSCAM operation of the late 70s where a FBI agent teams with a couple of con artists to nab corrupt politicians so that they wouldn’t go to jail. The film explores the world of corruption and scams where con artists do whatever it takes to make money with a FBI agent while dealing with other problems that would do undo them. Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jeremy Renner. American Hustle is a witty and engaging film from David O. Russell.
Though the film is based on a true story, the first thing presented in the film is stated that some of the events in this film is true which reveals that not everything in this story about ABSCAM is true. Still, it is an intriguing story in which two con-artist lovers who have been successful in embezzling money from other people until they’re caught by an ambitious FBI agent who asks them to take part in a con game to nab a New Jersey city mayor who wants to rebuild Atlantic City. The three go along with the scam to nab the mayor but things become complicated when relationships start to occur in a strange love-triangle while adding to the chaos is a con artist’s emotionally-unstable wife. It’s a film that is about the con game where two hustlers just try to do things carefully only to be involved with this FBI agent where the dealings involve the mob.
The film’s screenplay by David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer explores not just the idea of scams and con games but also the individuals involved in the ABSCAM operation. Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is just a guy who lives his life as a con-artist as he just wants to live a good life despite being married to Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) who is pretty crazy as the only reason Irving doesn’t leave her is because he cares for her son Danny (Sonny and Danny Corbo) whom he has adopted. Rosalyn is a unique character just like Irving as she may be this woman who likes to drink a lot and is quite crazy where she is a liability to everything Irving tries to do in secret. There is a lot more to her that even Irving would eventually realizes as she’s also a threat to Irving’s relationship with his con artist partner/lover Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) who often goes into the guise as a British woman named Lady Edith Greensly.
Sydney is a woman who wasn’t initially involved in Irving’s schemes but realizes how fun it could be where they have an excellent life though she understands why he couldn’t leave Rosalyn which makes her uneasy. When Richie DiMasio (Bradley Cooper) nabs them and is attracted to Sydney in her Edith persona, he would have Irving to teach him the ropes in the art of scamming which Irving reluctantly does as he isn’t sure what Richie wants to do. Even Richie’s own superiors in the FBI are unsure of his plans to nab this New Jersey mayor in Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) who has been known as a man of the people. When Irving gets to know Carmine, a conflict begins to emerge in Irving over Richie’s operation where it would go too far as it involved politicians and the Mob that frightens Irving. Eventually, things do go out of control in the third act where much of the first half of the film is comical though things get a bit darker in the second act. Especially as Irving and Sydney realize the danger of what they’re doing and how far Richie is going as even Rosalyn becomes involved.
Russell’s direction is pretty lively in the way he plays into the world of the con game where he does infuse the film with a lot of humor but also a shadiness where the film might be a con itself. Still, Russell ensures that there is a story to tell where he spends much of the film’s first 20 minutes to reveal a lot about Irving and Sydney’s relationship and how the former got introduced to the con game. Much of it is sort of told in a montage where Russell does include a lot of voiceover narration as it’s told by Irving, Sydney, and Richie. With Russell using a lot of hidden cameras to play into some of the secrecy of Richie’s operations and the way these secret meetings are set-up. Russell also ensures that there’s some great attention to the way Sydney and Irving play their role in the background with Richie being the center of these schemes.
It’s not just the intimacy in Russell’s direction that is interesting in the way some of the drama occurs that includes a very chilling confrontation involving Rosalyn and Sydney. There’s also moments where Russell would infuse a lot of humor into the film that would includes Rosalyn’s antics as she is this unpredictable wildcard. There’s also humor in the way the men look as Richie has this perm, Carmine’s hair is also weird, and Irving is bald with this bad comb over that just adds to the ridiculousness of the film. Russell does get more dramatic in not just his framing but also in the way he plays into a lot of the emotions as well as a sense of disillusionment that starts to occur in the film. Even as it becomes clear that the actions of Irving and Sydney in their game is much smaller in what Richie wants who becomes far more corruptible in his ambitions. Overall, Russell crafts a very masterful yet entertaining film about scams and the ugliness of ambition.
Cinematographer Linus Sandgren does amazing work with the film‘s cinematography from the use of its lighting in much of the film‘s interior scenes such as the disco and clubs as well as going for a more naturalistic look for the daytime exterior scenes. Editors Jay Cassidy, Alan Baumgarten, and Crispin Struthers do fantastic work with the editing with its emphasis on style with its use of jump-cuts and montages to help play into the intensity of the story. Production designer Judy Becker, with set decorator Heather Loeffler and art director Jesse Rosenthal, does amazing work with the set pieces from the apartment that Sydney lives in to the house that Irving and Rosalyn live in as well as the look of the cars and such to play into that period of the late 1970s.
Costume designer Michael Wilkinson does fabulous work with the costumes from the leisure suits the men wear as well as the lavish dresses of the women including many of the stuff that Sydney wears which are very revealing. Makeup supervisor Trish Seeney does nice work with some of the makeup work for the look of the men as well as the many kind of hairstyles for those characters. Visual effects supervisor Sean Devereaux does terrific work with some of the minimal effects in some of the background scenes in New York City to play up to that period. Sound designer Jay Nierenberg and sound editor John Ross do superb work with the film‘s sound from the way the tapes are being recorded in the schemes as well as some of sounds of the parties the characters go to.
The film’s music by Danny Elfman is pretty good as it‘s mostly low-key with its emphasis on rock and jazz while music supervisor Susan Jacobs create a very wild soundtrack that includes music ranging from jazz, rock, disco, soul, and pop from artists like Duke Ellington, Jeff Lynne, America, Chicago, Steely Dan, Donna Summer, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Todd Rundgren, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the Temptations, Paul McCartney & Wings, David Bowie, Elton John, and the Bee Gees.
The casting by Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu is incredible for the ensemble that is created as it features some small yet noteworthy performances from Colleen Camp as the FBI wire transferee Brenda, Paul Herman as a mob attorney, Shea Whigham as an associate of Irving’s who tries to help make the deal between Irving and Carmine, Michael Pena as an agent who pretends to be Sheik Abdullah, Danny and Sonny Corbo as Irving and Rosalyn’s son Danny, Elisabeth Rohm as Carmine’s wife Dolly, Jack Huston as a mob enforcer Rosalyn falls for in Pete Musane, and Robert de Niro in a great cameo appearance as the mob leader Victor Tellegio.
Alessandro Nivola is excellent as FBI superior Anthony Amado who is intrigued by Richie’s ideas while becoming excited by what Richie is offering. Louis C.K. is superb as Richie’s boss Stoddard Thorsen who is unsure of Richie’s plans as he tries to tell Richie a moralistic story while dealing with the craziness that Richie is creating. Jeremy Renner is amazing as Carmine Polito as the mayor of Camden, New Jersey whose hopes to do good for the people of New Jersey has him lost in the scam he’s being targeted for as Renner displays a humility and heartbreak that he would deal with. Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic as Irving’s wife Rosalyn as this very unstable woman who is just wild and unpredictable yet proves to be almost as smart as Irving and Sydney as Lawrence is just a real scene-stealer.
Bradley Cooper is brilliant as Richie DiMaso as this ambitious FBI agent who hopes to nab the mob and corrupt politicians with this scam only to lose control of his operation as he falls for Sydney, in her Edith persona, as he also becomes a man lost in his ambitions. Amy Adams is phenomenal as Sydney Prosser as this very vivacious woman who wears scantily-clad clothing and sports a British accent as a British woman named Edith as she is someone who enjoys her lifestyle until she becomes aware of the danger of the scheme she’s in. Finally, there’s Christian Bale in a remarkable performance as Irving Rosenfeld as this very smart con artist who has no problem conning people as he finds himself taking a back seat to Richie’s plans while befriending Carmine as he starts to realize the severity of his actions and how troubling Richie’s scheme has become as it’s performance that has Bale put on extra weight but also a humility into a man who has conned himself into a corner.
American Hustle is a marvelous film from David O. Russell. Armed with an amazing ensemble cast and an intriguing look into the ABSCAM operation of the late 1970s. It’s a film that is fun but also compelling to explore the world of scams and how it can corrupt many while hurting those who tried to do good. Even as it explores some of the ugliness of ambition and the loss of identity in a con game. In the end, American Hustle is a sensational film from David O. Russell.
David O. Russell Films: Spanking the Monkey - Flirting with Disaster - Three Kings - I Heart Huckabees - The Fighter - Silver Linings Playbook - Accidental Love - Joy (2015 film) - The Auteurs #70: David O. Russell
© thevoid99 2013
