American Hustle

Year of release

2013

Directed by

David O. Russell

Written by

Eric Warren Singer

David O. Russell

Starring

Christian Bale

Amy Adams

Bradley Cooper

Jennifer Lawrence

Jeremy Renner

Louis C.K.

American Hustle

 

    

 

Plot - A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Adams) is forced to work for wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Carmine Polito (Renner) is a passionate and volatile New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Despite all the best laid plans, Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Larence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down.

I know this film has amassed quite a sizeable fanbase on here but what can I say, I wasn't particularly excited by it. I'll certainly give it credit for being a well made and exceptionally well acted film, unlike the marks that the con artists target however I never felt myself being taken in by their charms. In the knowledge that this may well incite a small riot on here, dare I say I even found it all a little bit......dull? I'd certainly say that was particularly true of the opening hour, with the film really taking considerable time to get into the real swing of things. It was only when the sheikh 'arrived' in the jet and the con got under way that I felt the story start to come to some sort of life. Even then however it never matched my expectations; perhaps it was the fault of the film's advertising but I was expecting a far breezier, more comedic venture. When it comes to con films/TV shows I think it should be a lot slicker, flashier and sexier than what this was. And its running time of 138 minutes felt way too long for a story of this nature. Cutting out a chunk of that running time would perhaps have helped the film find that energy that I felt was lacking.

As I said at the start though the performances across the board are almost uniformly excellent. Christian Bale delivered one of his most impressive performances that I've seen in the role of Irving Rosenfeld. Going by some of the interviews he has given over recent years, I got the impression at times that Bale was never greatly comfortable taking on the mantle of Batman. Well if that were true then he probably couldn't have succeeded in choosing a role more different from the Caped Crusader than Irving Rosenfeld. Sporting a ridiculous combover and substantial beer belly he has left his days of superheroics well and truly behind him with this performance, certainly more sad sack than superhero. He acts as a fairly strong anchor at the heart of the film. Butting heads with Bale's Irving, and following on from their collaboration on Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper once again excels under the direction of Russell. His performance is one of great fire and determination in the role of Richie DiMaso, a man of initially good intentions who eventually begins to capitulate thanks to his excessive ambition. With ever larger carrots being dangled in front of him it's not long before his sights move on from catching mere con artists to politicians, senators and gangsters.

While Bale and Cooper deliver strong work that has already attracted awards recognition, the undoubted stars of the show for me however were the leading ladies of the piece. As the apple of Irving's eye, I thought that Amy Adams was excellent as the manipulative Sydney Prosser, or Lady Edith Greensly depending on the situation. She was the one character that I really couldn't put my finger on, whose intentions I was never entirely sure about. Adams also proves to be damn sexy in a series of elegant and very revealing outfits which allow Russell's camera to place great emphasis on sideboob! So much so that I feel her breasts should actually have gotten their own mention in the end credits. And whoever her costume designer was deserves an Oscar for services to humanity! Despite all this talk of great performances, when it comes to the question of who deserves the MVP plaudits there is no doubt in my mind that it's Jennifer Lawrence. As Irving's wife Rosalyn she was far and away my favourite component of the whole film. Displaying an incredible charisma and alluring nature, whenever she would appear on screen the film gained a spark that I felt was otherwise lacking. She once again shows that she really could be something pretty special, and without a doubt she was the film's saving grace. Well to be fair she was actually one of two saving graces, with the other to be found in the very amusing and combative discourse between Cooper and his boss, played by Louis C.K.

Film Trivia Snippets - The film is a highly fictionalized telling of the Abscam (short for Arab scam) scandal of the late 1970s and early 1980s, an FBI operation that began as an investigation of trafficking in stolen property, but was later expanded to include political corruption. /// This is not however the first time that attempts have been made to adapt the story for the screen. In the early 1980s French director Louis Malle adapted the Abscam story into a film script entitled "Moon Over Miami" which was set to star Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Plans for the film were abandoned however with Belushi's death in March of 1982. /// The script was originally titled "American Bullsh*t" and came in eighth place on Hollywood's 2010 Black List. Originally Ben Affleck was in consideration to direct but he dropped out in favour of directing an adaptation of Stephen King's 'The Stand', which he has also dropped out of subsequently. /// In 1980, Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha was targeted by Abscam but not indicted since he didn't accept the bribe. He would later be saved from a House Ethics Committee punishment by Charlie Wilson. Coincidentally Amy Adams also starred in the film Charlie Wilson's War. /// David O. Russell stated that Robert De Niro didn't even recognise Christian Bale on the set even after they were introduced to each other. De Niro pulled Russell aside, pointed to Bale and asked who he was. First De Niro didn't believe it was Bale but after Russell convinced him of that De Niro noted, 'Wow, he looks really different", and nodded his head as a sign of approval. Russell then had to re-introduce the two now that De Niro knew who Bale was.

Alongside the cast that he was able to assemble, also in line for credit are Russell, his cinematographer Linus Sandgren and the production design crew because the film does look and feel very much like the 70s, or at the very least like a 70s movie which is the closest that I can equate to. Oh and Hustle also features a really fun soundtrack as well, composed of an eclectic mix of songs from the period that covers both the very familiar and the lesser so. Russell's direction certainly seems quite confident and assured, with his work and the film as a whole having quite a strong Scorsese vibe. In particular the film attempts to peer inside the world of con artists in a similar fashion as Goodfellas did with the mob, with a great deal of similarities shared between the two films. Both films open in a tremendously similar fashion as the main protagonist delivers a narration that details who they are and the world they operate in, complete with flashbacks to their younger, formative years that attempt to highlight how they ended up where they did. And from then on a great resemblance can be seen throughout between the two films, whether it be in their shared period setting, the cool soundtrack or in Russell's mobile, roaming camera that seems to ape Marty whenever possible. While the film may evoke the work of Scorsese however, I'd certainly class it as 'Scorsese Lite.'

And perhaps this is just a feeling that I imbued the film with personally, but throughout I got a sense of smugness and self-satisfaction about the whole project, with the film seeming really proud of itself. And I really didn't feel that it should have been. The script is often clumsy, relying heavily on contrivances and characters occasionally acting out of character. The plot, especially for its lengthy running time, is pretty basic and lacking in substance while it's characters don't have a great deal of depth, coming across as under developed and largely unlikeable. In fact that was one of the main obstacles to my really enjoying this film; I never came to care for any of the characters and so had little interest in who came out on top of the various games of cat and mouse. That marked a major departure from how I felt about the characters in Russell's last film, Silver Linings Playbook. And while it's not so much a fault as just a missed opportunity, I didn't feel that the film fully exploited its 70s setting. While I understand it was set there due to the true story it is partially based on, I felt it could have explored it more. Other than the odd comment here and there that refers to events of the time there wasn't a great deal of it. Oh and perhaps I'm mistaken but at one point did Amy Adams' character talk about running off to Russia or Estonia? In 1978? Haven't these people ever heard of the Cold War? Surely that would create some issues for that plan.

It's a decent enough film that has its moments, but just as many flaws, and is strongly acted. All in all however I really was left slightly baffled as to why Hollywood and film critics have fallen so in love with it. There already seems to have been a bit of a backlash against the film amongst cinema audiences and I think that will only grow if it somehow sneaks off with the Best Picture at the Oscars. In a few years time I could easily imagine it being talked about as one of the weaker winners of the big prize. To me the film felt like the halfway point between Ocean's Eleven and The Grifters, with it unfortunately coming up short of the respective attributes of both films. I didn't feel it had the slick, flashy frivolity of Oceans; nor did I feel it had the substance, depth or grit of Stephen Frear's The Grifters.

Conclusion - American Hustle actually represents a very accurate depiction of the cons that its central characters ply their trade with. It promises much, looks great and says all the right things but in the end you don't get what you were expecting and are left disappointed. I think that myself, and indeed many other viewers, might have been more welcoming to the film's attributes had it been released in August for example, and billed as just a 'normal' film. Its release smack bang in the middle of awards season however, and all the accolades that said award shows have been quick to lavish upon it means that expectations have been raised. And for all its style I didn't feel it came close to having the substance required to meet those expectations.