'The art of survival is a story that never ends'

Rating: 10/10 (19 March 2014)

David O. Russell and his entire crew created one of the most impressive films of last year. Strange it was so highly honored by everybody but the Oscars. If ever there were a candidate for Best Ensemble Cast American HUSTLE wins hands down. Loosely based on the Abscam, which for those who have forgotten, 'Abscam—sometimes written ABSCAM—was a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sting operation run from the Bureau's Hauppauge, Long Island, office in the late 1970s and early '80s. The operation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property but was converted to a public corruption investigation. The FBI, aided by a convicted con-man, videotaped politicians as they were offered bribes by a fictional Middle Eastern sheik in return for various political favors. The investigation ultimately led to the conviction of a United States Senator, six members of the United States House of Representatives, one member of the New Jersey State Senate, members of the Philadelphia City Council, the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and an inspector for the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.' Given that bit of reality, Russell and cast and crew created a stingingly brittle yet funny movie.
American HUSTLE is set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation. It tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Elisabeth Röhm is Carmine tacky wife, Louis C. K. plays Stoddard Thorsen, Michael Peña is the Mexican man pulled in to impersonate Sheik Abduklah, Alessandro Nivola is the smarmy Anthony Amado, and Jack Huston is the guy Rosalyn goes after – Pete Musane.
The costumes, hair, clothes, and sets mirror the tacky 70s and make us all remember how over the top we were. But setting the core of reality for this fictional movie aside, here are some of the finest acting performances on film to savour.