David O'Russell has built an impressive filmography full of comedy-dramas, Martin Scorsese-like gangster epis, and moving biopics. The director has a great batting average despite covering such a wide range of movies, but he didn't become such a skilled filmmaker without a broad scope of influences either.
When Sight & Sound asked several directors for their 10 favorite movies, the director submitted his own list, shared by Collider. Between surrealist French comedies, '70s crime epics, and classic Christmas movies, there's an equal amount of predictable choices and surprises on O'Russell's list of favorite films.
10 The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (1972) - 7.9
With so many great foreign movies, especially from the '70s, very few deserving movies actually earn recognition in the U.S. This was the case with The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, as it is somewhat overlooked in the U.S. despite winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The plot revolves around a bourgeois group dining together, only for them to be continuously disrupted, and it's as surreal as they come. Of all the comedies that O'Russell loves, The Discreet Charm stands on its own not just for being a foreign movie, but because it's the only one that hasn't obviously influenced his work.
9 Young Frankenstein (1974) - 8.0
Young Frankenstein is one of the greatest parody movies of all time and was the second of a one-two punch that started with Blazing Saddles. And although some feel that parodies are the low-hanging fruit in the comedy sphere, the Mel Brooks classic is visually inventive and surprisingly cohesive for the type of movie that it is.
Mel Brooks is to thank for all of the parody movies that have come out since he was at the height of his powers. Though he didn't create the genre, he certainly paved the way for others. But he could be to blame for them too, as some may think there are more bad parodies than good. And although his movies aren't exactly parodies, Brooks' humor rubbed off on O'Russell in a good way, as the comedy in his 2000s films are one of the best things about them.
8 Groundhog Day (1993) - 8.0
Groundhog Day is one of the best romantic comedy movies of the 1990s, and although there have been many movies about time loops since, the 1993 film remains one of the most imaginative. This is mostly thanks to Bill Murray's typically short-tempered and depressive take on Phil Conners.
Groundhog Day is an obvious choice for O'Russell, as his movies are not only comedy-dramas, but they also feature the very same kind of melancholic tone and are filled with nihilistic characters like Phil. The only thing that O'Russell hasn't tried in his movies that Groundhog Day has in spades is the fantasy element.
7 Raging Bull (1980) - 8.2
Raging Bull is more than just a sports movie, it's oft-considered the best boxing movie of all time. From the black-and-white cinematography to Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro's on-screen chemistry, Raging Bull still holds up today. It's another unsurprising choice on O'Russell's list, as the filmmaker went on to direct his own boxing movie in The Fighter.
But that isn't the only similarity the two movies have, as they both follow two brothers in which one is the coach, and both are an unapologetic look at their warts-and-all personal lives. On top of that, O'Russell has cast De Niro in two of his own movies, which can only be out of sheer admiration for the iconic actor's past work.
6 Chinatown (1974) - 8.2
1974 was an incredible year for crime dramas, as the year saw the release of two of Francis Ford Coppola's best movies, but it also saw the release of Chinatown. The movie is unique in the way it looks, and it's one of the few of its kind, as it mixes hardboiled crime with psychological drama. Not only that, but the detective movie follows the iconic Jake Gittes, which is Jack Nicholson's best role.
O'Russell has directed one movie about private detectives in the past, I Heart Huckabees, which has become a cult hit. However, it doesn't have much in common with Chinatown, as it's more of an existential comedy than it is a hardboiled drama like the '70s movie.
5 Vertigo (1958) - 8.3
Alfred Hitchcock directed a ton of classics, and Vertigo is the best of them all. At the time, it was unlike anything Hitchcock had directed, as the thriller was extremely personal and revealing, but it still included techniques that only he was capable of.
Vertigo is praised by critics and general audiences, but just like every Alfred Hitchcock movie, it's a film for filmmakers more than anybody else. It was the very first movie to use the "Vertigo effect," also known as a dolly zoom, in which the camera zooms in but is pulled away, or vice versa. It makes whatever is in the foreground remain stationary while the background either shrinks or grows.
4 It’s A Wonderful Life (1947) - 8.6
It's A Wonderful Life is one of the best Christmas movies of all time, and its storyline and message are timeless. It follows a guardian angel talk a man out of taking his own life by showing him his loved ones' morbid future without him. The 65-year-old movie has gone on to influence so many directors and writers who endearingly pay homage to it or even parody it, and O'Russell is no different.
The Christmas movie is unashamedly sentimental, and that's why it's a clear influence on O'Russell. Joy has a wonderfully wrapped up and uplifting ending, and Silver Linings Playbook literally ends with a song and dance. Perhaps it's only a matter of time until the director makes a Christmas movie.
3 Goodfellas (1990) - 8.7
Goodfellas is yet another of O'Russell's favorite movies directed by Martin Scorsese. From the classic rock soundtrack to the stereotypical Italian-American characters, the 1990 film is a classic gangster movie. And as the film is so full of ad-libs, it features one of the best-improvised scenes in a Scorsese movie.
It's almost as if O'Russell is trying to imitate Scorsese's career. The director has not only made a boxing movie influenced by Raging Bull, but the movie American Hustle is a giant homage to Scorsese's fast-paced, fast-talking gangster movies.
2 Pulp Fiction (1994) - 8.9
Pulp Fiction could be on the list of every modern-day movie director's favorites, as it completely changed the landscape of cinema, as well as writers' approaches to screenwriting.
As all of the events in the movie are chain reactions mostly based on Vincent being a bad hitman, the movie is one of the most important multi-stranded narratives in Hollywood. As a writer, O'Russell took influence from this technique too, as I Heart Huckabees follows many different characters, and all of their paths cross at the end of the movie.
1 The Godfather (1972) - 9.1
There likely isn't a film director in the world that isn't influenced by the gangster movie, even if subconsciously, as The Godfather changed the way movies were made forever. Between the mise-en-scene, taking the source material seriously, and the classic musical score, The Godfather is one of the greatest movies of all time.
The style of The Godfather is unlike any of O'Russell's movies, and though the director has made a gangster movie before, it's completely unlike the tone of the 1972 movie. However, many of O'Russell's movies are about family relationships and what goes on behind closed doors, such as I Heart Huckabees, The Fighter, and Silver Linings Playbook, just like The Godfather.
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