American Hustle

WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
Click here to show this review. American Hustle (2013) Rating: 4 / 5 If there’s any criticism to “American Hustle” it’s that at times it’s a bit slow; but the tight script and impeccable performances more than make up for any shortcomings. The film begins by informing us that “Some of this actually happened”. Right off the bat you have to admire a film that outright admits they are going to fudge some facts to make it entertaining. It’s 1978 and entrepreneur/con-artist Irving Rosenfeld (a bald, out-of-shape Christian Bale that you can barely recognize) entangles Sydney Posser (Amy Adams) into his latest con. She poses as “Lady Edith Greensley” and convinces desperate men and businesses (thanks to her phoney British accent) to give them money to ease the process of getting huge loans. Of course, as Irving points out repeatedly, there are no promises and the two simply keep the money, leaving the losers even worse off than before. This would be a love story about two con artists but complicating things is Irving’s family; his paranoid and depressed wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence, spectacular as usual) and her son, whom he’s adopted. Then, a bombshell hits the duo when they are caught by undercover FBI agent Richard DiMaso (Bradley Cooper, sporting a curly hairdo and playing a man that’s both an ambitious sleazeball and a hero) The deal they’re given is this: help the FBI crack down on corruption by getting some big named politicians involved in a scam and then busting them, or face some serious jail time. I’m going to begin by saying there was something about the film that didn’t quite click with me and I attribute that to maybe a lousy breakfast before going to the theatre or outrageous expectations. That said, I still had a great time watching the film. In a lot of crime-oriented stories, you’re asked to cheer for a bunch of criminals and you can never really get into it because you wouldn’t want to spend five minutes talking to them, much less 2hrs+ getting to know them inside and out. “American Hustle” gets around this by showing everyone as very human, by having everyone be a villain on one level or another and by having bad people show off their skills and honing their craft. You have to admire these con artists because they’re not amateurs. They are skilled, organized and make the effort to develop and hone their craft. The characters walk DiMaso (and the audience) through the process, let you know what could go wrong, how to avoid it and you come to appreciate their art. The comedy and intrigue comes from the bumbling FBI agents, so eager to get involved and so hell-bent on getting that big score that they rush things along and nearly fumble the whole operation. Irving and Sydney have got it all figured out until some idiotic detail, which was supposed to be handled by Richard isn’t done just right and it all falls to pieces. Then, everyone has to quickly regroup and fix things to ensure their efforts (and the funds invested by the FBI) haven’t been wasted. On top of that, there’s some pretty compelling drama here too. Irving’s wife, despite her delusional state has got plenty of sense in her and more than enough to realize the power she wields over her husband. She sets up a rivalry between herself and Sydney that threatens the whole operation, meaning everything and anything could go wrong at any second. Keep in mind that they are pulling a scam here, so not only do you have people on the inside and the outside putting the FBI’s plot at risk, but you’ve got the would-be (which include Jeremy Renner as Mayor Carmine Polito, a slew of politicians and some very dangerous men) constantly asking questions and trying to figure out if this is real or not. So we’ve got a pretty intense thriller going on here, with some drama on the side but if you think this is going to be a dry film, you would be wrong. It’s actually quite funny. A lot of this stems from the fact that this whole story is plain ridiculous, even if it is based on a true story it’s one of those stories that’s so crazy you second question it. You would think that the Federal Bureau of Investigation would be able to get their cards straight but they’re amateurs and seeing the two protagonists, who know they are two steps ahead of everyone trying to slow down so these buffoons can catch up is a lot of fun. Little details inserted in the film, like the very natural dialogue, or the glances the characters give to each other between scenes and bigger elements like the clothes that were chosen for the cast to wear or the locations all add up to a very funny film. It all works because the performances are spectacular. Some of the actors are pretty much unrecognizable (particularly Christian Bale, who couldn’t be further from his Bruce Wayne character) I predict a whole lot of Oscar nominations for the actors here, just you wait. This feels odd to say when referring to a film that’s about a bunch of con artists being forced into cooperating with the government, but it’s a real crowd pleaser. I highly recommend you check out “American Hustle”, you’ll have a great time. Despite my initial reaction I've really warmed up to it and look forward to seeing it again. (Theatrical version on the big screen, December 22, 2013)