An unusual movie from David O. Russell, who usually makes more daring, provocative movies (at least he's capable of better). The best thing here is Jennifer Lawrence, that starlet of The Hunger Games franchise, who continues to prove that she's not only a gorgeous woman, but a serious actress with some real talent to boot. Her every gesture and expression communicates more to the audience than any amount of dialogue or monologue could, and with that alone she almost saves an otherwise mediocre movie, which more or less feels like a long HSN infomercial in itself. Robert DeNiro is actually decent here, given the light material, and how little he actually has to do, and it seems that lately both him and Lawrence have become regulars in any Russell production. Still, this is no Silver Linings Playbook, nor is it American Hustle. Had this been made for TV directly (because its safe story and content do feel as such), it probably would be deemed a better effort, but with such Hollywood A-listers in the cast, I couldn't help but expect a more daring effort. All I got was a very average one.
C+
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