David O. Russell Articles
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In 2015, director David O. Russell was 57 years old and in the prime of his career. He had made a succession of three increasingly well-received features, and there seemed to be no end in sight to his hot streak. The process of making THE FIGHTER (2010), SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012), and AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013)…
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A few years ago, I was working as an assistant to a talent and literary manager at a powerhouse firm on the Sunset Strip. On any given day, I might have a brush with one of the world’s most famous faces, or listen in on a phone pitch for a project that would eventually come…
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Academy Award Wins: Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence) The long, languishing period between 2004’s I HEART HUCKABEES and 2010’s THE FIGHTER yielded little in the way of creative output from director David O. Russell– NAILED’s failed shoot in 2008 notwithstanding. As such, he had ample time to develop a variety of projects, and the sudden success…
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Academy Award Wins: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress Whereas most people are lucky enough to weather their mid-life crisis In the safety of their own home, director David O. Russell had the distinct misfortune of having his play out onscreen in front of a large, discerning, and increasingly-disapproving audience. THREE KINGS (1999) was a…
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For the most part, watching a given director’s films in chronological order and analyzing them for the purposes of THE DIRECTORS SERIES is an immersive and revealing way to study his or her artistic growth. Sometimes, however, it can pose a puzzling dilemma– especially in cases where the film was released several years or more…
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The invasion of Iraq by the Bush administration in 2003 became something of a flashpoint for American filmmakers, especially among the politically-minded. Like the relationship of 70’s cinema to the Vietnam War, much of Hollywood’s cinematic output during the mid-aughts could arguably be interpreted as some kind of reflection of our divided feelings towards the…
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The making of 1999’s THREE KINGS exhibited a supernova of artistic growth for its embattled director, David O. Russell. However, just as an exploding star will eventually entropy into an inward-surging black hole, so too did the 46 year-old filmmaker find himself gazing inward; caught in the grips of a personal and artistic midlife crisis…
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Some directors show a steady progression in confidence and craft as their careers unfold, while others lurch forward by leaps and bounds– surprising us with a burst of creativity we weren’t expecting. In 19999, director David O. Russell proved himself to be an artist of the latter persuasion with the release of his ambitious and…
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Notable Festivals: Cannes The modest success of his 1994 feature debut, SPANKING THE MONKEY, placed director David O. Russell on the radar of Hollywood production companies as a talent to watch. One such company was Miramax, who at the time was run by a sibling pair of awards-bait moguls, Bob and Harvey Weinstein. They saw…
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Notable Festivals: Sundance (Audience Award) Independent Spirit Award: Best First Screenplay Of all the living American directors with a constant presence on the awards circuit, few have had as controversial and twisting a career as director David O. Russell. Over the course of a filmography spanning over two decades, his profile has risen to dizzying…