American Hustle
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner
Directed by David O. Russell
Reviewed by Brendan Dousi
[rating: 3.5/5]
I really like David O. Russell on the most part. Sure, he can be pretentious and a bit full of himself but that often just adds to his charm. I Heart Huckabees is probably one of the most pretentious films of all time and I was delighted by every minute of it. O. Russell has hit a stride over the last few years with some major Oscar contenders in The Fighter and Silver Lining’s Playbook making him one of Hollywood’s hottest commodities today. With all of the undoubtedly high expectations for his latest star-studded 70’s romp that is American Hustle, the only question now is if O. Russell can keep his pretention in check while maintaining his glorious winning streak.
Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is your average vain yet weirdly charming mid-level 70s con-man. He and mistress Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) have a good thing going. They’re madly in love, they both appreciate the same music and they both have a mind for the more minute details in crime and, dare I say, ‘hustling’. They are perfect for each other in many ways, except for the fact that Irving refuses to leave his eccentrically depressed wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) and adopted son Danny. Besides this, things are going well for Irving until he and Sydney try to con federal agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) who entraps the duo into helping him nab a series of white-collar criminals. Crazed with ambition to cement himself as top-dog at the FBI, DiMaso sets his sights on the charming, do-good Mayor of Atlantic City Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) who turns to more below-board investment sources in desperation to keep his beloved City afloat. As unforeseen elements arise in the operation, Irving finds himself faced with many moral, and mortal, dilemmas.
American Hustle, without a doubt, is going to earn itself a lot of Oscar Nominations. This is obvious right off the bat. It will deserve some of them, to be sure. The film looks beautiful, the setting, hair and make-up all spectacular. The performances especially are truly impressive. Probably even David O. Russell for the “Best Director” category is understandable. I just don’t think I could say that in its current state American Hustle deserves the title of “Best Film”, which I have an inkling it will be nominated for, if not win. The film just doesn’t handle the general story-telling and pacing as well as the rest of the film deserves. There’s a level of self-indulgence here that’s perhaps a little too much, even for David O. Russell. While being extremely comedic, the film also takes itself so seriously that it trawls along at a snail’s pace for the majority and only really seems to pick up speed well into the second act. A lot of what happens just doesn’t warrant the amount of time spent on it. As a result, a potentially brilliant film falters and fails to meet its very high potential.
Despite the languid pacing and a slightly too-neat ending, American Hustle is still quite a spectacular film to watch. It always entertains, engages and commands a lot more laughs from the audience than most of this year’s comedies put together. Jennifer Lawrence is a revelation as Rosalyn, Bradley Cooper impresses with his erratic Richie and Bale is method-acting his heart, yet again transforming his body and delivering an admirable performance as Irving Rosenfeld. A delightful supporting performance from a perfectly cast Louis C.K. is even thrown into the mix. While all performances were fantastic, the show is truly stolen by Amy Adams’ bare-all depiction of Sydney Prosser, giving possibly the bravest role of her career so far.
An engaging, fun piece of cinema with a lot of laughs and some truly outstanding and career-defining performances from its impressive cast; American Hustle should have enough glitz, glam and charm to blind you of its flaws.
