American Hustle (2014)

I have just seen American Hustle yesterday. Maybe not an American Classic but it was an incredibly good film. This is a movie that doesn't concentrate on the plot so much as the characters within the story. David O. Russel has achieved great success with character driven pieces in the past. Just sample Silver Linings Playbook which found Jennifer Lawrence stumbling to the Oscars podium just last year and gave Bradley Cooper its other lead a well deserved Academy Award nomination.

American Hustle is a fictionalized story placed within the very real scandal that occurred in the 1970's called Abscam short for Arab Scam in which FBI agents tried to bribe political officials into taking bribes. This movie plunges you into another world, one in which we can only imagine. It is set in the 1970's and the costuming in the movie is fantastic; everything is done to excess, especially the hair. The soundtrack is brilliant, it has been specifically chosen to place you within the era the film is set, it is extremely effective.
As previously mentioned David O. Russel is all about character, the plot is almost an after-thought to him, with that in mind it means all the more that he specifically wrote each character with the lead actors in mind for the parts.
Russel uses old favorites in his four lead roles, Christian Bale and Amy Adams who worked on The Fighter (2010) and Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Laurence who worked with him on Silver Linings Playbook (2012)  this once again proves that the four leads work incredibly well with each other and with their director. Bale and Adams play Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser two small time con artists who are caught by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper) and made to work for him in his attempt to further his career by catching well known public officials doing dodgy deals in exchange for their freedom. Jennifer Lawrence plays Rosalyn Rosenfeld, Bale's temperamental wife who causes more trouble and stress than anything else, and  Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito the mayor of New Jersey who is unknowingly drawn into the scam.


The performances in this movie are nothing short of excellent, Christian Bale used his usual method and put on 40 pounds and added an unattractive comb-over to create Irving Rosenfeld, he starts as a confident fraud and becomes a beaten down echo of his former self. All due to the agent Richie DiMaso I personally feel that this was the best performance in the film. Nothing in American Hustle is black and white it is all grey; Cooper is supposed to be the FBI agent, the good guy who is helping to enforce the law but in reality he is an aggressive obsessed character and it is for this reason that despite their previous flaws the audience end up rooting for Bale and Adams to overcome and get one over on DiMaso.
The women are just as good as the men, Amy Adams plays Sydney Prosser and is at a career best in this movie, she is hiding in a web of lies that finally start to unravel and become to much for her. Jennifer lawrence reportedly was not wanted for the film by Bale but as soon as they tested together he held his hands up and admitted his mistake. David O. Russel extended the part of Rosalyn Rosenfeld after seeing how impressive Lawrence was in the role. She is a woman of complete contradictions, she doesn't seem to have any qualms about the way she is or treats her son and husband, she seems to be bordering on some kind of self destruct. Lawrence is a joy to watch and brings a real humor to the film as do the rest of the leads.
All four main actors have been nominated for awards for the film, Christian Bale has received Best Actor nominations for both a Golden Globe (in a comedy or musical) and a BAFTA as has Amy Adams for Best Actress for both ceremonies. Bradley Cooper has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for both the Golden Globes and the BAFTA's and so has Jennifer Lawrence in the Best Supporting Actress category and surprisingly only Lawrence has received a nomination for the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) awards. This year is incredibly strong for both films and performances but whether they win or not, all deserve to be mentioned.

Check out American Hustle it is playing now at local cinemas and leave me a comment, tell me what you think. A very solid 8 out of 10 from me.