"American Hustle" A New American Classic!

David O. Russell seems to pay a well crafted homage to the new wave Hollywood crime films of the early and mid 1970s with American Hustle. The story is about two con artists, Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser, posing as an alias Lady Edith Greensly (Amy Adams) who are forced by an FBI agent named Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) to set up a sting operation on Camden, New Jersey mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Meanwhile, Rosenfeld's wild and unpredictable wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) seems to cause trouble whenever she is around and may be a threat to the scheme. Despite a some what complicated plot, American Hustle still succeeds to hold up very well thanks to it cast of greatly performed and highly memorable characters that takes full advantage of their screen time. A well crafted screenplay and more than solidly developed characters is what makes the film. 



Do not let the raspy, Malboro smoking Batman voice fool you. Because in reality Christian Bale can for most of the time, be damn good actor! And here is no exception. Just like with The Fighter, another David O. Russell film, Bale becomes completely lost in his role and for most of the time you forget that it is even him. He is just dedicated to it completely. He both mentally AND physically gets into character and performs the wonderful illusion of creating the character instead of being just the actor. Amy Adams does very well as Sydney as well as being always entertaining. She pulls it off in showing off the character's talents in being somewhat deceiving and conniving. Her role has her to play two separate aliases with two distinct personalities. The sign of a good actor is whenever you are able to nail that, and quite frankly, Amy Adams did just so. I notice that Bradley Cooper is a very good actor, it is just that a lot of the films he is in run pretty average. So his talent is hardly ever recognized. I am proud to say it that his acting chops definitely shine here. Cooper plays a calm, cool, yet deeply psychotic FBI agent that can snap if you just press the wrong button. Cooper does a splendid job in acting both sides of the character. Jennifer Lawrence is highly entertaining as Rosalyn! Lawrence just never seems to fail me and she continues to impress me the further she goes in her career. This is just another one of those roles she pays full devotion and has great tons of fun doing. This character is definitely different from others that Lawrence has played in the past, but she showed to be quite adaptable to a little change. And her recent Golden Globe win was definitely well deserved. Let's see if she can nail another Oscar for the second time in a row, because again she deserves it! Finally we have Jeremy Renner has Mayor Carmine Polito. Again here is another talented and entertaining actor, who for the most part of his career has barely anything to work with. He he has a lot to work with as he is entertaining being a naive, gullible, and giddy politician who just happens to be corrupt. Like Lawrence, this is a role that is definitely different from the ones Renner usually plays. And throughout Renner does a solid job being entertaining as well getting sucked in to this character. Pretty much the entire cast got so deep into their characters and actually became them. This film proves to be the one of the year that provides an ensemble of likable and entertaining fresh characters.



If there was any problem or a the very most a nitpick I have with the film, that would probably would be the story. Now I am not by any means saying that this is a terrible story, I actually think it is sort of a clever and intriguing story. If it was a terrible story, this would be a terrible movie, despite how much the actors give. It is just that at times it maybe a little to hard to follow and some elements. I really wanted to follow this story fully, I may have followed abotu 89% of it, but there are elements that just zoom by or fly right over your head if you do not pay enough attention. The characters a lot of times within the story go thorough a lot of cons, twists, and loopholes and they go by very fast with not enough time to let them sink in and understand them fully. I will say that they are clever and they do deserve to be complicated, I just wished I knew more about them so I can fully be with it. I really wanted to follow these characters because I adored them! It is one of those films that I think I need maybe one or more viewings to completely be with it. And honestly I think that is a very good thing. I do genuinely want to see this film again not only because I want to understand the story and twists better, but is because I want to enjoy these characters again. The story, despite how complicated it can get, still is a great and clever story with a enjoyable atmosphere and setting. And these are great entertaining characters! They are what makes this film great and why I had a blast watching it. It's a given that I surely recommend and why I think it is a new American classic!

GRADE: AE