"American Hustle" is a laugh-out-loud funny,
very clever, well-produced, well-acted movie about conmen, crooked politicians,
and an FBI sting operation. I enjoyed it while I was watching it but it left me
empty. I didn't care about any of the characters or the plot points. I wasn't
rooting for anybody and I wasn't involved in anything. Ultimately
"American Hustle" felt been-there-done-that to me, and gimmicky and
shallow. It reminded me of a lot of previous films about lovable gangsters and
conmen, like "Goodfellas," "The Sting," and "Guys and
Dolls." Christian Bale as petty conman Irving Rosenfeld reminded me of
Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit.
The gimmicks begin as the movie opens. It opens on a shot
of Christian Bale's fat and bloated stomach. Bale is famous for losing weight
for his role in "The Machinist." Then he became buff and muscular for
"Batman." For "American Hustle" Christian Bale gave himself
a fat gut. His fat gut takes up about thirty seconds of screen time and Bale
could have played the role without it. His gut took me out of the movie. I
started thinking, not about the character or the plot, but about Bale's tendency
to gain or lose weight for roles. I assume he's pushing for an Oscar. I felt
manipulated.
The plot is pretty pointless. A small time conman, Irving
(Christian Bale) and his conwoman girlfriend Sydney / Edith (Amy Adams) are
recruited by FBI agent Richie (Bradley Cooper) to snag crooked politicians, including
the mayor of Camden Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Irving's wife Rosalyn
(Jennifer Lawrence) gets in the way and causes some comic mayhem. Robert DeNiro
shows up as a dangerous Mafioso.
The production values are very high. The costumes are
outrageous: velvet tuxedos and open shirts revealing hairy chests and gold
chains. Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence are all decked out and paraded like
models. In "Night at the Museum 2" Amy Adams wore tight,
flesh-colored jodhpurs. Everyone talks about her butt in that movie. In
"American Hustle" she wears plunging necklines and slit skirts.
Everyone will be talking about her breasts and legs.
The direction is fluid and musical – you feel like you're
on an amusing ride. 1970s pop hits make up the soundtrack and action is choreographed
to fit the music.
The movie is laugh-out-loud funny, funnier than some
films billed as comedies. It's hard to tell what genre the film is meant to be,
because there are scenes where characters are obviously in pain.
The audience is conned as well as the characters
onscreen. There is a surprise. The surprise felt pretty cheap to me. The
surprise was executed not by cleverness, but simply by hiding information from
the audience.
The performances are all fun to watch and very strong.
Problem for me was that each performance seemed to exist in its own world.
Christian Bale is doing comedy and parody. He is mocking the character he
plays, and low class conmen in general. Jennifer Lawrence is weak. She is
pretty, pouty, and young, but I didn't catch any acting talent. Bradley Cooper,
as the FBI agent, is intense and grating in his hyper ambition and lack of
smarts and caution. His character never came together for me, never achieved any
coherence.
Amy Adams is the heart of the movie. She is fiercely
intelligent, deadly, really, in her amorality and her love for her man. The
real standout is Jeremy Renner as Camden, NJ, mayor Carmine Polito. Renner is
from a completely straight, serious movie. He comes across not as an actor
playing a role, but as the "real" Carmine Polito, though Polito is a
fictional character based on former Camden mayor Angelo Errichetti.
"American Hustle" depicts conflict between
straight, square people who tell the truth and con artists who lie, cheat and
steal. As is often the case in Hollywood films, "American Hustle"
comes down firmly on the side of con artists. "Everybody's a con
artist!" the film wants you to believe. "Everybody lies, cheats, and
steals!" Hollywood would take this stance because Hollywood manufactures
illusions.
"American Hustle" alters history to make this
position believable. "American Hustle" becomes heavy-handed in its
insistence on manipulating its audience into liking two characters and
disliking a third. Camden's mayor was not the saint the film wants you to think
he was, and the real Irving didn't do the kindly things the film depicts him as
doing. Camden, NJ, is a horrible place to live. Its population is shrinking. It
ranks first in violent crime. Political corruption is rampant. In making a
saint out of the mayor of Camden, David O. Russell sticks his Hollywood finger in
the eye of New Jersey's poor and crime victims.
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