Movie Review – American Hustle (2013)

American Hustle, 2013

Directed by David O. Russell
Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence and Louis C.K.

SYNOPSIS:

A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive British partner, Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso. DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia.

The Golden Globes has always been the subject of much ridicule from the film-loving community. Despite being a pathway to what could be nominated for the more prestigious Oscars, there are always examples of ridiculous choices when it comes to nominations and the categories they go into. In the case the 71st Golden Globe Awards, David O. Russell’s much-hyped American Hustle has been nominated for the much coveted Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy category. Which is surprising as not only is American Hustle neither a musical or a comedy, it shouldn’t really be nominated for any category with “Best Motion Picture” in the title.

Apparently based on true events, American Hustle tells the story of con man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) who, along with his partner in crime Sydney Prosser (Adams), are hired by the off-kilter FBI Agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper) to escape a long prison sentence. However, when DiMaso starts to push Rosenfeld and Prosser into conning seemingly-corrupt Mayor Carmine Polito (Renner) so he can take down a large number of government officials, their plans – and relationships – start to come unraveled. 

At its basic level, American Hustle gets by on five outstanding performances from its main cast. Bale in particular pulls out a career best as Rosenfeld and Amy Adams is very enjoyable as the conflicted Prosser. Her chemistry with Bradley Cooper is electric and Cooper once again shows us that he is more than a simple comedy actor by bringing out the best in the hyperactive DiMaso. And although he looks like a Night Gallery era Rod Serling, Jeremy Renner pulls out a great turn as Polito and also shows that he has more than one haircut.

However the true show-stealer is Jennifer Lawrence as Rosenfeld’s incredibly irritating wife Rosalyn. She may only be in a handful of scenes, but you always want to return to her as quickly as possible. It takes an incredible amount of skill and acting talent to create a character that is this grating and yet steal every scene they are in (like Simon Pegg did in last year’s The World’s End) but Lawrence does this without breaking a sweat. It’s amazing to think she’s only 23, but she turns what could have been a two-dimensional footnote into one of the best elements of the whole movie.

But American Hustle is not just about great performances as it is also incredibly stylish from brilliant costumes to outstanding wigs and a great feet-tapping soundtrack. When it’s all put together, it’s no wonder why the movie has been grabbing the attention of film lovers and therefore the award givers. David O. Russell has carved a beautiful looking film that works at almost every single level and he should be commended for it. But this is where American Hustle falls down. Like The Great Gatsby last year, American Hustle is style over substance.

Despite being just over two hours long, American Hustle feels like it goes on for around four or five. Each scene drags into the next and there is a large portion during the second act in which nothing really happens. The story crawls along at a snails pace and there is only so far that the superb performances can carry it. Russell appears to have taken tips on filmmaking from Quentin Tarantino as the movie devolves into a self-indulgent mess, more interested in how it looks rather than entertaining its audience.