Not Moses’ Best Outing — “Exodus: Gods and Kings”

by Gabriel Valdez

The Biblical tale of Moses leading the Hebrew tribes out of Egypt has been told countless times on film. Charlton Heston most famously parted the Red Sea. Val Kilmer voiced Moses in the 1998 animated film The Prince of Egypt. Ben Kingsley did it for TV. Now, Christian Bale takes on the mantle in the very serious-minded adaptation Exodus: Gods and Kings, directed by Ridley Scott.

Raised with his brother Ramses (Joel Edgerton) as a son of the Pharaoh Seti (John Turturro), Bale’s Moses is a leader and tactician who hides a secret – he was really born among the Hebrew tribes as a slave to the Egyptians he now helps rule. Exodus is the story of his exile and the mission he’s later given by God – to free the Hebrew tribes from Egyptian rule.

Exodus has some glaring flaws. It treats Moses’ story as a series of spectacles, roaring ahead during times of action, yet practically falling asleep in between them. Scott is respectful to the story and its characters while taking liberties with the narrative, but he fails to find any breathing space in between the film’s largest moments. We never get to see our characters, say, look at the stars or sit down to dinner or even take a deep breath before a sentence.

Focusing only on the famous moments, the whole effort begins to feel like the slowest highlight reel ever created. You can feel the film wanting to take some chances and get philosophical, but it just won’t pull the trigger, perhaps because it’s too afraid of upsetting part of its audience. We have a narrative that takes chances with the character Moses, but then shies away and fails to give us any reason for taking them. We have moments of rare cinematic beauty, but the beauty is never used for any storytelling purpose.

The tone is so serious throughout that we’re left with only one emotionally resonant moment, and this belongs to the villain, Ramses. Not all movies need emotion or a greater meaning, but this is the story of Moses and it feels like anything but a spiritual journey. At times, you even begin to wonder if it’s Moses’ highlight reel we’re watching, or Ridley Scott’s.

Exodus can also begin to feel a little like play-acting at times. I won’t delve into the ethics of casting so many Caucasian actors in Egyptian roles. Instead, I’ll just point out that it can make the biggest movie feel quite small: when accents briefly slip, you can quickly find yourself watching Welsh Moses talking to the Pharaoh from Brooklyn while his brother Ramses is trying so hard to not sound Australian that he doesn’t sound like he’s from much of anywhere.

The performances are good, but even the best performers aren’t immune to moments like this. When these actors face off, relatively small inconsistencies build off each other and create much larger problems that can sabotage whole scenes. Exodus isn’t rife with this, but its slow pace and emotional distance create too much room to avoid noticing.

I do need to highlight the 3-D. There are grand vistas, cityscapes, and thousand-foot views of battlefields. The sequence showing Egypt’s plagues is energetic and captivating. That’s expected. What’s not is the unparalleled use of subtle “before the window” effects: floating embers, glittering flecks of sand, flies, sun glare, dust and smoke. The 3-D here is exquisite. It is beyond good. It is sumptuous. This whole review could have been 700 synonyms for how good the 3-D is.

Exodus itself isn’t good or bad. It’s occasionally great and occasionally terrible. This is a middle of the road film filled with absolutely visionary moments and some very good acting sabotaged by a cold, remote, and homogenized approach to storytelling.

Religious audiences will like how respectfully it’s told, even if they will want to discuss the number of details that are changed. Audiences looking for spectacle will definitely find it, but they’ll have to be immensely patient for long stretches in order to earn it. Film buffs will love the technical elements – costuming, cinematography, sumptuous 3D – but won’t have much tolerance for its lackluster storytelling and stop-and-go pace. For every moment of Exodus that stuns, there’s a longer moment that grinds you down as a viewer. It evokes surprisingly little thought and emotion for its subject matter.

Does it Pass the Bechdel Test?

This section helps us discuss one aspect of movies that we’d like to see improved – the representation of women. Read why we’re including this section here.

1. Does Exodus: Gods and Kings have more than one woman in it?

Yes. Sigourney Weaver plays Moses’ adoptive mother Tuya, while Hiam Abbass plays Bithia. Maria Valverde plays Moses’ wife Zipporah. Indira Varma plays the Pharaoh’s High Priestess.

2. Do they talk to each other?

No. There’s a charged scene involving Tuya and Bithia, but they don’t talk to each other – they talk to the men instead. Even when Moses is saying his goodbyes to family, women may stand next to each other but they only speak to him.

3. About something other than a man?

Well, they don’t talk to each other, so the film doesn’t even get this far. When women speak to men in the film, it’s usually about a man, though they briefly speak of war and plagues.

Final verdict: Ugh. The narrative treatment of women in this film is awful. I could, perhaps, understand women having very little agency in the narrative because the Bible doesn’t give women very much agency in its narratives. That said, film history is full of female characters who still get up to interesting things despite a lack of agency.

In part, this is due to the highlight reel nature of the film. If it doesn’t have to do with Moses or Ramses, it’s not in the film. I understand that approach, but again, Exodus has very little reason for this approach. Look to other epics that didn’t give women much to do – from Lawrence of Arabia to Steven Soderbergh’s pair of Che biopics – at least they had a reason for their restricted narratives. Hell, I don’t believe even Luc Besson’s underrated The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, which almost never leaves its female protagonist’s side, passes the Bechdel Test. But these all used restricted narratives to create a psychological portrait of their characters – at least there’s a reason they do what they do.

Exodus wants to focus on its pair of brothers – that’s fine – but because their story is so grand and epic, and involves women at key points in the film, it seems a complete waste that they have absolutely nothing to do. Women are more often shown standing by, hands folded and saying nothing, than doing anything or speaking a word.

I’ll write more on how ugly a film Exodus is later in the week. I was willing to give Ridley Scott the benefit of the doubt until I’d seen it, but its scripting is sexist, its casting (and arguably its make-up) is racist, and one character is blatantly homophobic.

A Whole Lotta Christian Bale: The Films of 2014, #10-1

10. The Missing Picture

March 19 — Rithy Panh tells his memoir of the Khmer Rouge massacres in 1970s Cambodia, using clay figures to fill in for the archival footage that’s missing from one of the most forgotten genocides in 20th century history. It’s an idea that sounds like a student art project gone wrong, but it’s one that in its simplicity becomes overwhelming even in a 2-minute trailer. The Missing Picture is currently up for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. You can watch that trailer here.

9. Gone Girl

October 3 — If Se7en, Zodiac, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo have proven anything, it’s that David Fincher is the greatest modern director of the movie mystery. Gillian Flynn, who wrote the bestselling novel, is handling the screenplay solo, and it’s rare for a first-time screenwriter to be given that kind of carte blanche for a major release. Rosamund Pike joins Ben Affleck, Tyler Perry, and Neil Patrick Harris in what has got to be the strangest cast Fincher’s ever lined up. This last gives me pause enough to not rank this higher, but Fincher’s track record is just too strong to keep it out of the top 10.

8. Noah

March 28 — Darren Aronofsky makes dark, disturbing films like Black Swan. His Requiem for a Dream, about the drug addictions of four New Yorkers, requires emotional recovery time after viewing. Noah is out of left field for him, though he says it’s been his dream project since youth. No one knows how accurate to Judeo-Christian interpretation his adaptation of the Biblical Flood will or won’t be. Previews make it look like he’s playing it straight. Some test screenings for religious groups resulted in criticism, some didn’t. It was enough to cause the studio and Aronofsky to fight publicly over final cut, which any Aronofsky fan could’ve predicted miles off. Let’s hope Aronofsky kept his vision intact. Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, and Emma Watson star. You can watch the trailer in all its madcap visual glory here.

7. Inherent Vice

No date set — There Will Be Blood was a statement film that immediately took its place as one of the most important movies in America’s cinematic history. Director P.T. Anderson’s Inherent Vice, based on the Thomas Pynchon novel and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Jena Malone, earns a place based on the fact that Anderson has yet to misfire. Phoenix is already one of our best actors. Malone is overdue for recognition. They’re joined by Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, and Reese Witherspoon.

6. Exodus

December 12 — Starring Christian Bale as Moses. If that’s not event viewing, I don’t know what is. The last time director Ridley Scott ventured back in time in the Middle East, it was for the Crusade-era epic Kingdom of Heaven. The theatrical release was a gutted mess that cut out entire protagonists, and it was only in the director’s cut that the film evolved from a middling action movie into a profound contemplation on faith, moral obligations, and one’s place in the world. That director’s cut is Scott’s best film by far, and most will never see it. It’s exciting that he’s finally returning to his favorite subject matter, and with Bale, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul, and Sigourney Weaver on board to boot.

5. The Wind Rises

February 21 — I hit on this in my Godzilla preview, but the most important filmmaking in the post-World War 2 era was done in Japan. It was a country possessed by regret and a national shame for blindly following its fascist leaders into war, and traumatized by the dropping of two atomic bombs. Hayao Miyazaki is the director responsible for Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. His animated worlds are evocative and emotional, but in his swan song, he trades in the fantasy genre to tell the story of an idealistic dreamer, a Japanese airplane designer, whose creations are used for war. The Wind Rises is currently up for an Oscar as Best Animated Film. Watch the trailer here.

4. Lawless & Knight of Cups

No date set — Terrence Malick is one of the most enigmatic directors in history. He made only three films in 30 years, each more lauded than the last, and now he’s made four films in the last four years. Both Lawless and Knight of Cups star Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, and Natalie Portman. Knight of Cups is about a man’s celebrity and excess in Hollywood. Lawless, which will likely be retitled, is about two intersecting love triangles in the Austin, TX music scene. It’s the higher profile of the two and also stars Angela Bettis, Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Holly Hunter, Val Kilmer, and Rooney Mara. These aren’t to be confused with Voyage of Time, which is Malick’s upcoming film about…the universe?…and was filmed in Kenya, and may not arrive this year. Heck, it’s Malick, we might not see any of these films until 2029, but chances are we’ll get the Bale pairing this year.

3. Serena

No date set — Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007. Her In a Better World won it in 2011. Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper are both nominated in acting categories this year for American Hustle. It’s Lawrence’s third nomination. She won Best Actress last year.

In Serena, Lawrence is Serena Pemberton, a depression-era Lady MacBeth to Cooper’s timber baron George. Serena is the single role I’m most excited to witness in the coming year. Based on its pedigree, if a man had directed this, it’d be on everyone’s top 10 lists. As is, it’s virtually nonexistent.

2. The Raid 2

March 28 — The usual answer to, “What is the best action movie ever made?” is Die Hard. This is wrong. The correct answer is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Well, it was. In 2011, The Raid: Redemption complicated that answer. It was an Indonesian film by a Welsh director about an ill-fated police raid, and it combined the best of martial arts, gangster, horror, and Western action movies. The action was brutal, fast, emotional, and intelligent, but the tension that gave it its context was unparalleled. It wasn’t just a superb action movie, it was a superb movie, period. The sequel looks every bit as artful and intense while broadening the scope of its story. Watch the trailer here.

1. Interstellar

November 7 — Little is known about director Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to The Dark Knight trilogy. It’s about space travel and the discovery of a wormhole. A mysterious, heartbreaking, and inspirational trailer is our only clue, yet it doesn’t give a shred of plot away. The cast is a you-pick-’em of top flight actors – Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey, Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, John Lithgow. Nolan’s last standalone film was Inception, and that was worth the wait. Interstellar is the movie event of the year. Watch the trailer here. It’s worth it.

Impossibly, Somehow: “American Hustle”

American Hustle exists. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? The film about con men in the 1970s is the funniest film I’ve seen all year, but many of its laughs are the kind that bug my conscience. Some even come through tears. There’s as much lust for life as in any film I’ve seen in recent memory. Its cast of characters is the most passive-aggressive since All About Eve, and that was made in 1950.

American Hustle is deeply American. Every character wants that next leg up. Every character thinks he or she’s the one to get it. Everyone has that extra drive and that bit of luck we’re all convinced we have in our very best moments. Every character lives in dread and survives through hope. Christian Bale plays con artist Irving Rosenfeld, potbellied, middle-aged, and sporting “a rather elaborate combover.” His partner in crime is Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), who plays the part of English royalty as much to forget she’s a small-town girl from Albuquerque as to bamboozle her helpless marks. Irving and Sydney’s operation is light on its feet, until it’s busted by the FBI. Agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) isn’t interested in prosecuting them, however. He wants to use their talents to take down politicians and make a name for himself.

American Hustle loves its characters enough to put them through hell. Against Irving’s better instincts, he helps Richie create an irresistible “investment opportunity” – the rebuilding of Atlantic City. The plot is based on Abscam, an FBI sting operation that netted the conviction of one U.S. senator, six representatives, and a variety of other corrupt politicians. (Can we please launch Abscam 2?) Writer-director David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) isn’t interested in politics, however. He’s barely interested in the sting operation. He lets you know what you need to know when you need to know it.

American Hustle is instead obsessed with the con each character plays on him or herself in order to make it day-to-day. Characters trick themselves and each other so often that most cease to be happy without a steady diet of deception. Love triangles have nothing on the flow chart going on between Irving, Richie, Sydney, Sydney’s alter-ego Lady Edith Greensly, Irving’s wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), Rosalyn’s mob suitor Pete (Jack Huston), and Richie’s fiancee. Each character has a moment when they try to come clean to someone they trust, and each character has a moment when they are soundly rejected. These moments are one and the same.

American Hustle knows that in a world of con artists and men who only value their own renown, an honest man is doomed. The only one trying to do right by his fellow man is also the only character you’re certain will suffer in the end. Mayor Carmine Polito’s (Jeremy Renner) only interest is in securing funds to rebuild Atlantic City and put his constituency back to work. In him, Richie sees a big conviction and his ticket to the big leagues. Irving sees the betrayal of a kindred spirit, of the only man who cares at all to change the sort of conditions that made Irving what he is. Renner invests such earnestness and empathy in Polito that his unsuspecting role in the con becomes tragic – except for the parts where you’re laughing.

American Hustle proves Christian Bale is the most capable chameleon of an actor working today. Two weeks ago, I reviewed Out of the Furnace. A few nights ago, I re-watched Batman Begins on TV. Yesterday, I enjoyed American Hustle. Bale is the common thread: heartbreaking in one, iconic in the next, and – through a deeply affected performance – the most genuine thing on-screen in American Hustle. It’s a rare actor who can make a philandering con man on the downside of his career this endearing and earnest.

American Hustle is really the crowning achievement of its entire cast. Amy Adams mines a depth of pathos I had never even suspected. Her Sydney is so alluring and full of verve she’s contagious, but so out-of-control and vindictive it must be viral. Bradley Cooper has been working up to Richie DiMaso for a long time, and as an agent becoming a legend in his own head, he provides much of the film’s comedy. One scene, in which Sydney tries to reveal who she really is to Richie, reflects the whole film – hilarious at one instant, sexually charged in the next, and nearly ending on a violent note that would derail the entire plot. The sharp turns in mood and energy of it all would be over-the-top if it wasn’t so finely controlled by the director and his actors. Instead, these moments become so deeply felt that aggressive, out-of-control, and over-the-top become smooth, soft, and supple.

American Hustle is the announcement that Jennifer Lawrence is both the actress of the moment, and of her generation. As Irving’s wife, Rosalyn, she naturally enamors whomsoever crosses her path without the effort Sydney has to put into conning them. Lawrence commands the screen every second she’s on it.

American Hustle is the cinematic embodiment of jazz. It throws the hopes and dreams of four unstoppable objects together and basks in the human drama and paradoxical comedy that arises from it. It weaves four brilliant soloists together, sometimes in harmony and sometimes in conflict, and it demands everything these actors have, every shred of commitment and ounce of energy. These characters are each awful, and we should hate them, yet we feel sympathy. We root for them because we recognize their acute panic at being lost in life, controlled by others. We know that drowning feeling that you’re less and less who you thought you could be by the day. We root for them because they’re each so hopeful.

American Hustle is an impossibly brave film, constantly an inch away from being too ridiculous. It feels more real than real, supersaturated with feeling and color only in the way movies can be, yet too embarrassingly private in the way only life is. It’s charged, it’s classic, it’s a masterpiece and one big put-on all at once. The more absurd a moment, the more it matters. It knows what all the notes are but doesn’t look at the sheet music because it’ll play what it wants – it knows how the music should feel – and, somehow, that becomes the more perfect way to do it.

American Hustle, like its characters, is determined to make sure you know it exists. And boy oh boy, does it ever exist.

American Hustle exists. Somehow.

American Hustle is rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content, and brief violence.