American Hustle

Three stars (out of four)

American Hustle is one of those films you don't want to think about too much, but rather sit back and enjoy.  It is fun, funny and brisk, but does not make a lot of sense.   It's worth it because it is just so much fun to watch.  It reminds me of a lot of the old Rat Pack films like the original Ocean's Eleven, where plot a coherency take a back seat to fun.  That is the attitude you should come into American Hustle.

The film makes no pretensions right from the start.  There have been a lot of "based on a true story" films lately.  Hustle opens with, "Some of these events actually happened."  With that intro, the tone of the film is already set.  This is a comedy, despite some very unpleasant characters and situations, of low level con artists on either side of the law in the late 1970s.  It starts with Christian Bale's character, Irving Rosenfeld, a small-time con man who meets up with Amy Adams' character, Sydney Prossner.  Both had horrible backgrounds and find themselves as two peas in a pod.  Together, they begin a con partnership swindling people for $5 thousand a piece in fraudulent investment schemes.  They are caught by Bradley Cooper's sleazy and ambitious FBI special agent Richie DiMaso.  He forces Irving and Sydney to participate in high-level corruption stings to entrap local politicians.  They reluctantly agree.  While Sydney and Irving honestly love each other, Irving is trapped in a loveless marriage with his passive-aggressive wife Rosalyn, played by at turns wickedly vicious or emotionally naïve by Jennifer Lawrence.  This takes place during the ABSCAM scandals of the 70's, and as the fish get bigger and bigger in the stings, DiMaso keeps pushing Irving and Sydney to bigger and more dangerous situations.  He strongly hints he will never let them out as long they are helping his career.  At a point where Irving is taken by mobsters in a car with a bag over his head, he formulates a con that will get him and Sydney out of the tangled web then find themselves entrapped.  The rest of the film deals with the unravelling of the con, ala The Sting.

The movie is quite good, very entertaining fare.  It is comedy in some of its blackest form at times.  While these are all unlikable characters, the movie's deft script and direction makes you empathize with them despite yourself.  It is obvious the incredibly talented cast is having the time of their lives and it shows with the intensity of each performance.  There is not a dud in the bunch, with Jennifer Lawrence's being a standout.  There are a few problems, though.  First, the movie is a tad overlong.  At times, it takes way too long to get to the point.  Second, the final con is very confusing.  I am unclear as to whether this is because of post production cuts or whether the screenwriters were being a little too clever for their own good.  I suspect it was because of the former.  As the reveal unfolds, some of the moves don't make a lot of sense or just happen because the script says so.  Finally, as great as her performance is, Jennifer Lawrence's part seems padded, almost as if the producers said, "we got last year's Best Actress winner here, let's use her as much as possible."  There are a lot of times her character is not necessary to what we are seeing.  As much fun as it is to see her sink her teeth into a meaty role, there seems to be a lot of unnecessary appearances from her.  But that said, the movie is funny, taut and just a joy to watch.