American Hustle Reviews

Like everyone else, I have been quite impressed by David O. Russell's recent come-back. Indeed, I really liked 'The Fighter' and I completely loved 'Silver Linings Playbook' which surprisingly turned out to be my favorite movie released in 2012. So, when I heard that he was already coming back so soon with another ambitious project involving in all-star cast with most of the actors from his two last projects, I got pretty excited. On top of that, it was nominated for no less than 10 Academy Awards so it sounded pretty amazing. Well, eventually, it was pretty good but I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. Indeed, basically, it was a decent story but I couldn't help thinking that they were hiding its weaknesses behind some rather supposedly deep voice-overs and by casting some big actors for virtually all the talking parts. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, all the actors involved delivered a fine job and it was entertaining but it wasn't a really great story. One issue I had for example is that it starts up with 2 con artists who were represented as some really low life criminal losers and, yet, when the plot needed it, they became some kind of geniuses. Also, once again, just like for 'Silver Linings Playbook', I thought that Jennifer Lawrence was just too young to play a young mother. I mean, seriously, she was maybe 22 years old when she shot this movie. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look but don’t expect anything amazing before watching it.

Yet another crime movie based on real events like recent ‘Pain & Gain’. It was the star's collision, everyone competed with each others. Giants like Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner fought to show their masculine strength. In another stream Amy Adams and new sensation Jennifer Lawrence had war to rule feminine parts. Overall, it is the celebration time for movie buffs to see multi stars in one screen.

As usual Bale’s appearance did not surprise me. He’s one of the actors from Hollywood who do a variety of experimental roles in his movies especially in physical appearances. Bradley Cooper had a good time recently with many blockbusters, so in a movie to share screenspace with Bale will boost his professional growth in his career graph.

Amy Adams is a good actress, but she’s not attracted to me though she was great in this film. No doubt Jennifer Lawrence was thrown an incredible performance with her small role. Yet both are very enjoyable to watch, especially expected that particular cat fight moment.

Let me tell why you should not miss this movie. The cast was the great strength the movie had. Robert De Niro’s guest appearance made it more fuzz and the puzzling story created lots of guess games among viewers. I must say it was well scripted by the writers and crafted beautifully by the director of 'Three Kings'.

This was amazing and had remarkable performances. Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner had the most interesting and well acted characters in my opinion. It had a nice amount of comedy and keeps you hooked through the entirety of the runtime. Louis C.K. was hilarious as the boss of Bradley Cooper's Richie. Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence were deliciously beautiful. I loved the seen where Jennifer Lawrence is lip syncing. I didn't even know Michael Pena and Robert De Niro would be in this. I love a movie that does good twists and does them well. Pretty interesting and I would say it is definitely worth the watch.

I’m trying really hard to think of the last time I had so much fun while watching a movie in 2013. It was probably Pacific Rim, but that was a different kind of joy and fun. That film had clearly demarcated characters – these were good guys, there were bad guys, and there were characters that were mostly good but needed to lose their bad attitudes. Nothing so easily digestible is to be found here. American Hustle gives us nothing but variations on characters who are bad, sneaky, liars and cheats.

So it’s a pity that I must admit that it doesn’t evolve much from there. It’s a sloppy narrative with an ending that just feels wrong and illogical, but as an excuse to watch a group of supremely talented actors have a grand time chewing scenery and playing bad? Well, it can’t really be beat.

Degradedly referred to as “Explosion at the Wig Factory,” American Hustle is a fairly easy target to lock-on as being “overrated.” It does venture mightily close to being Scorsese-Lite – like GoodFellas or Casino without the magic touch that Scorsese brings to them, oh, and pump up the shrieking hysteria to eleven. But Hustle is more concerned with being a dark comedy than anything else. And don’t expect much fidelity to the true ABSCAM story, but at least the film is upfront about that from the very beginning. Hollywood has a long history of playing fast and loose with true stories, but this one throws its hands up in the air from the get-go and tells us “Some of this actually happened.”

But no matter, let’s talk about how great David O. Russell is with actors before he break down what went wrong with Hustle. The film has five major roles and each is filled by an actor I greatly admire. Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence – how is that for an ensemble? While Bale and Renner look fairly unattractive (a feat in itself), they’re not tasked with playing loud or obnoxious characters. In fact, despite being the main con artist and a crooked politician, they’re the most decent, self-aware characters with a strong moral compass. Sure what they do is wrong, but Renner’s shady political dealings are from a strong desire to make things better, and Bale’s character undergoes a quagmire once he gets too close and involved with his mark. Don’t let the distracting beer gut and spectacular comb-over fool you, these are just ornamentations on another solid performance from Bale. While Renner has the quietest part, but delivers a surprisingly heartfelt and emotionally sincere performance, despite the sometimes distracting bouffant.

It’s nice to see Cooper taking that Oscar nomination for Silver Lining’s Playbook and trying to make good on the promise his work in that film gave us. Here he plays an FBI agent trying to make his name and reputation by bringing down corrupt politicians. There’s just one tiny little catch, he falls hard for Amy Adams’ seductive grifter and lets his unbridled ego get the better of him once he lets it out to play. It’s a large and loud performance from him, but it’s also very engaging at the same time. Which is pretty much the same thing you could say about Jennifer Lawrence’s part as Bale’s loud, needy, desperate and manipulative wife, except her character is engineered to steal the show. She comes in like a bang of foul-mouthed Long Island accented neurosis, her hair like a crumpled bedsheet thrown atop her head and chain-smoking like a chimney. Lawrence is aces in the role and plays it to the comical heights, cultivating in a scene in which she sings along to “Live and Let Die” while doing household chores and scrubs in time to the music. It’s the kind of gonzo comic work that’s scene-stealing and seems primed for baiting awards, but Lawrence actually brings a real depth and emotional honesty to it, locating the real woman beneath the theatrics.

The true MVP of Hustle is Amy Adams, though. Her characters (and yes, there are two) are duplicitous and balance on a fine line between seducing us and making us question if she’s ever been totally honest with anyone. There’s the real character that she plays, the one that she invents which she must continue to play and the possibility that she may lose herself within this long con. She doesn’t get to ignite as many fireworks as Cooper or Lawrence, but Adams reveals her depths of her already impressive talents.

But the problem with Hustle is quite simple, really. It’s mostly an actor’s vanity project, and it frequently gives them too much room to be loud and give grandiose displays of “ACTING!” I’ll gladly take this over the mental-illness-as-romantic-comedy-device bad taste that Silver Lining’s Playbook left me with. Yes, I enjoyed SLP, but I also had massive problems with it at the same time. Hustle gives over to its actors too much and apes Scorsese’s style pretty blatantly, but at least it’s also really fun and funny.

Except for that damn ending, and, look, I know endings are hard. Russell has said that after The Fighter and SLP, Hustle completes his thematic trilogy about redemption. And this wouldn’t be a problem if the film didn’t insist on giving the characters a “Happily Ever After”-style ending. That worked in Fighter because there was one of those in the real story, it was irksome and one of my points of contention over SLP and just feels plain wrong-headed here. These characters just committed a long-con on several people, helped indict numerous politicians and cost an FBI agent his job. Tell me how and why these people deserve a happy ending? It just feels so wrong based on everything that has gone before, not that the “bad guys win.” That doesn’t bother me, but tonally it stands in stark contrast to everything else that preceded it. It’s an imperfect film, but I would say that I enjoyed the hell out of it far more than anything else. Sure it’s showboating the actors, and the story is a beat all over the place, but sometimes a piece of pop entertainment is just what is needed on a Saturday night.

Okay theres always people who complain about movies, but serioulsy this was a fun movie! I think people are missing the point that its a con movie, and they have to actually pay attention, because if you miss a part you are going to miss an important plot point. I had fun with this movie, I laughed I was into it, dont know why people were into it. Yes I do have complaints too, but Ill get to that.

Every performance in this movie was fantastic! Amy Adams, well thats all you need to know! Christian Bale, once again all you need to know! Bradley Cooper was really good in this movie, he brought it all and brought it hard! Jennifer Lawrence was annoying but she played it well, and her performance was good. Jeremy Renner had a good performance too.

The complaints I have is that, it felt like there was two endings. It felt like it was ending then all of a sudden, something else happens then another ending. I also felt like it could have gotten going a little sooner.

But it was memorable and I had fun. There was a STORY, you just gotta pay attention. Go have fun when you walk into it because that is what American Hustle is a fun movie

When your screenplay is yet to be produced and it is named American Bullshit, you know it is only a matter of time before curiosity sparks and there is a very dark toned comedy to be made. Combining the dark subject matter with the style of the 70's big hair, open front dress and wild suits you create a winning combination.

Irving Rosenfeld along with his partner Sydney Prosser are con-artists taking money from people and selling fake art. They are brought into a wild scheme when FBI agent Rich DiMaso wants to bring down some government officials. Richie gets himself in over his head and soon the three of them are scrambling to find a way out.

Stylish,smart and wildly sophisticated, American Hustle is such a fun film. As it develops and you find yourself entangled in the messes of each elaborate scheme, there is an engrossing energy that sweeps over you. During the first act, you seem lost, wanting them film to find itself and part way through the second act it does find its stride and not a moment too late. Despite the minor flaw during the first act, it quickly corrects itself and sets up a fantastic final act filled with double crossing and manipulation.

David O. Russell combines the look and feel of the 70's era with a fictionalized throwback to a scandal that actually took place, even taking time out to remind us that some of the events transpiring during said film did in fact happen. The surprising elements of comedy are what kept this film moving at a high frequency, taking sudden tonal shifts in order to accurately depict the true nature of the situation at hand. Russell is a hard hitting film maker, borrowing his impeccable style from old Scorsese gangster pictures and paying homage to some of the best works of all time. Russell put his film in good hands with the chameleon Christian Bale taking on the lead role, gaining 40 pounds and slouching so bad he actually herniated two discs in his back. His comb-over is ridiculous, his suits loud and his personality one of a kind. Adams compliments him just perfectly, wearing open front dresses and screaming seductive right from the beginning. Cooper is the wild card of the film, his character the one desperately trying to gain himself a name amongst his peers. Cooper is often wild and insane, his hair only the beginning of the ridiculousness.

All of these actors gave off fine performances, but there was one stand out performance that knocked them all out of the park. Jennifer Lawrence was by far the best part of the film, her manipulative Rosalyn keeping Irving at arms length. She was devilish, her performance very much accentuated by her bold accent and her characters vixen like qualities made her an absolute treat. If this performance does not score Lawrence back to back Academy Award wins, someone was not paying attention to how absolutely phenomenal she looked and how engaging each and every scene she was in ended up being. She gave the film a sense of tension when things were already heating up. She never knew when to stop, her indulgence getting the best of her. Such a deep and game changing character, and for an actress as young as Lawrence to walk in and steal the spot light, it such a fun thing to see. At just 23 years of age to watch her perform on a such a high level was one of the most delightful moments of film in a long time. This girl is going to be on that stage accepting awards year after year if she keeps giving performances like this one.

American Hustle is one of those films that has moments of pure excitement, full of richly timed dark witted comedy, and moments of pure intensity, highlighted by the every growing sense that somewhere things wouldn't turn out alright for everyone involved. It opts for a more comedic and traditional ending, bringing closure to each one of these characters. It kind of takes away from the mystical allure this film carried through-out, almost ruining the high stakes atmosphere that helped elevate the second act. At times without such invigorating style and lavish 70's feel, it would have been just another modern film. It's quite the spectacle when the era in which the film takes place can also ultimately become the saving grace of the film. Perhaps it is because this film actual scandal took place during the same era in which the film is set, but something about the 70's era, the music, the lights, the sounds, the characters it all just looked good, like a couple wearing a luxurious dress and a stylish tuxedo to the gala.

"Did you ever have to find a way to survive and you knew your choices were bad, but you had to survive?"

With both The Fighter and 2012's Silver Linings Playbook having attained tremendous critical and commercial success, 2013's American Hustle finds director David O. Russell throwing his hat into the Oscar arena yet again. A 1970s period piece populated with Oscar-calibre actors released in December, it's an awards picture through-and-through, which is perhaps why the end result is slightly unsatisfying. To be sure, this is a smart, stylish piece of work, but it's also overly indulgent, coming across as an opportunity for Russell to just let his regular actors be themselves without any discipline. American Hustle is full of fascinating vignettes spotlighting great acting and great filmmaking, but it lacks a consistent through-line, with slipshod plotting making the proceedings difficult to follow.

An out-of-shape, middle-aged businessman, Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) owns a chain of dry cleaning stores in New Jersey, while also dabbling in criminal activities from time to time. Despite his estranged marriage to the unhinged, manipulative Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), Irving meets and woos the mysterious Sydney (Amy Adams), teaming up with her to con people for thousands of dollars. When federal agent Richie (Bradley Cooper) busts the pair, he forces Irving and Sydney to perform jobs for the FBI in order to stay out of prison. Agreeing to bust the bigger, badder fish, Irving and Sydney set their sights on a New Jersey mayor, Carmine (Jeremy Renner), who's in the middle of a scam to rebuild Atlantic City's casino-resort landscape. But working to bring down Carmine opens doors to other powerful politicians and dangerous criminals, putting Irving and Sydney in much deeper than they ever anticipated.

American Hustle is based on the true story of the ABSCAM scandal from the 1970s, which was a complex deal. Producing a motion picture based on the incident is a tough proposition, as it would require tight plotting and an effective analysis of the factors surrounding it. Unfortunately, Russell is more interested in his quirky characters, not paying the subject enough attention to properly cover the intricacies at hand. According to Bale, the majority of the dialogue was improvised, and the star actually told Russell that the finished product might not make a lot of sense since various ad-libbed moments might change the plot down the track. Russell reportedly replied that he hates plots and is all about characters. And therein lies the problem: there are a lot of puzzle pieces to assemble here, and it's unclear if they all fit together by the end, with various scenes going by with vague stakes and an even vaguer purpose. It's not a deal-breaker per se, but it only occasionally translates to a gripping viewing experience.

American Hustle is likely Russell's most visually accomplished motion picture to date, evincing an impressive sense of mood and aesthetic sophistication, oozing a '70s atmosphere from start to end. The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook were more vérité productions, with raw cinematography establishing a documentary-esque vibe, but American Hustle is old-fashioned, playing out like a political thriller from the 1970s. In fact, its closest aesthetic cousin would be last year's Argo, right down to a deliberately grainy cinematic look and an excellent attention to period-specific costumes and hairstyles. The technical achievements are quite remarkable considering the modest budget, and Russell exhibits genuine mastery in his song choices. Various songs like Live and Let Die, A Horse with No Name and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road are incorporated to spectacular effect, enhancing the enterprise's sense of flavour. There are also a few fun moments of comedy, though in some scenes it's unclear exactly what tone Russell was aiming for.

Christian Bale yet again proves himself to be a chameleonic performer, changing his physique for the umpteenth time to portray the rotund Irving. Bale packed on a considerable amount of weight and disappeared into the role, changing his vocal mannerisms and body language, making this one of the actor's finest performances to date. It's the type of work that earns Oscars, but Bale does not shamelessly mug for Academy Award glory, as he's muted and talented enough to let his nuanced acting speak for itself. As Sydney, Amy Adams is predictably good, showing yet again that she's a fierce, confident performer with plenty of beauty and charisma to spare. Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper revisits the incredible acting chops he displayed in Silver Linings Playbook, delivering a truly marvellous performance for which he consistently looks focused. But the most mesmerising actor is Jennifer Lawrence, who commands the screen with such passion that one almost wishes the whole movie was about her. Adding further flavour to the cast are Jeremy Renner and Louis C.K., both of whom hit their respective marks, while Robert De Niro also pops in for a short but memorable appearance.

It's unsurprising that American Hustle has drawn unbelievably positive reviews from the press, as it's the type of blatant Oscar contender designed specifically to impress critics and awards voters. But it's too all over the shop to be genuinely memorable or enjoyable, with its messy narrative and gargantuan runtime bringing the production down a couple of notches. It's not that the material needed to be dumbed down to Twitter speak, but more disciplined plotting and further clarification about the specifics of various narrative machinations would've catapulted the film to greatness. As it is, this is merely a decent effort from Russell which had the potential to be great.

6.5/10