American Hustle is flawed but don't get me wrong, it is one of the best movies this year
David O. Russell's movies are about characters. They rarely have a story and are more about character interactions. In his latest movie based on the real life FBI sting operation, he unites the actors of 'The Fighter' and 'Silver Linings Playbook' in one of the best ensemble casts in movie history.
Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a bald, fat con man.He meets Sydney Prosser(Amy Adams) and immediately falls in love with her. With her false identity as wealthy aristocrat Lady Edith Greensly, their loan scams became bigger and profiteer. That is, until they were arrested by FBI Agent Richard DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) in a sting operation.Richard forces them to work for him in exchange of releasing them. The story follows them trying to implicate the Camden city mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Complicating problems is Irving's wife Rosalyn(Jennifer Lawrence), an unpredictable force of nature, who yearns to get involved in Irving's life but makes life harder for him in doing so. The movie is very entertaining, though the plot is a little weak and too long. The best part is that we are never sure who is conning whom.
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Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams in one of the best performance of their lives |
Russel has taken not one but many leaves out of Scorsese's book.The background narration provided by Irving and Sydney is so much similar to Henry Hill's and his wife's in 'Goodfellas'. His characters are unpredictable, the dialogues memorable and his swooping camera shots are too Scorsese like. But he makes sure to infuse his own brand of film making. Like Christian Bale in 'Fighter' and Jennifer Lawrence in 'Silver Linings Playbook', this film is filled with super energetic characters like Richard and motormouths like Rosalyn.
The costumes are terrific and the soundtrack awesome, and really transports you to 1978.
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The pitch perfect cast |
But what mainly makes this movie awesome are the performances. Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper are excellent actors and are wonderful in this film. Amy Adams successfully prevents her character from being cliched. And bravo Jennifer Lawrence. She is one of the best actresses now and I am really excited for the next movie she stars in. Jeremy Renner makes us feel sympathy for his character, even though he is the antagonist. And I was really bowled over by the 'Boardwalk Empire' guys- Shea Whigham and Jack Huston. They were excellent. And of course we had that cameo by Robert De Niro. I don't know about you, but when I saw him in the dark room, I had goosebumps on me.
American Hustle, with its wild characters, natural comedy and frantic pacing is one of the best movies of 2013.
