Set in the late 1970's- early 80's and loosely based on the Abscam scandal wherein con artists and FBI
agents
joined forces to bring down corrupt politicians, American Hustle is a
crime film in which from the first scene where Christian Bale's
character con artist Irving Rosenfeld was trying to fix his balding hair
with a nasty comb over, you know that this would be different from any
real life crime film set in the 70's. Director David O. Russell's wisely
set up the film as a comedy that well matches the bad hairdos and
outlandish outfits from that era.
With a cast that came from his last two films (all of them got Oscar nods for it as well as 2 wins): Bale and Amy Adams from The Fighter, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence from Silver Linings Playbook plus Jeremy Renner, they never disappointed and all of them had excellent chemistry for it shows that they had fun doing the film. The ensemble is reminiscent of the great Robert Altman films that also echoes Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights.
Rosenfeld found his match with Amy Adams' character: a fellow con-artist with different names and accents, you really don't know who she is. After being caught by Bradley Cooper's ambitious yet impatient FBI agent Richie DiMaso, the three join forces to bring down a New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) who may or not be corrupt. Jennifer Lawrence after her Oscar winning turn in Russell's Silver Linings Playbook, continues to surprise us with a role that's far beyond her age. As Rosenfeld's neglected wife Roselyn, she brings despair and kookiness to it. Her kitchen scenes with Bale stands out.
For two hours and nine minutes, American Hustle is an intelligent film that shows that in crime, there's also comedy.
