American Hustle

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2014)

Awards season was approaching, and with the Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations being announced I presumed this film was going to be one of the contenders for the Oscars as well, and the trailer made it look very good as well, from Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated director David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, The Fighter). Basically set in 1978, con artists Irving Rosenfeld (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Golden Globe winning, and Oscar and BAFTA nominated Amy Adams) meet each other and start a relationship, and posing as British aristocrat "Lady Edith Greensley" she seems to be improving his scams as they work together, but he cannot bring himself to divorce his wife Rosalyn (BAFTA and Golden Globe winning, and Oscar nominated Jennifer Lawrence), as she would get custody of his adopted son Danny (twins Danny and Sonny Corbo). The duo are running a scam loan business, but FBI agent Richard 'Richie' DiMaso (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Bradley Cooper) catches them, but he will let them go if Irving heps him catch four other crooks, Sydney is against this agreement, but Richie believes she is truly British, perhaps not of aristocracy, but she distances herself from Irving as she manipulates Richie in order to continue scamming people. Irving has a friend pretending to be wealthy Sheik Abdullah, as part of a scheme to con Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) of Camden, New Jersey, the mayor has been struggling to legalise gambling and raise necessary funds, Richie's boss Stoddard Thorsen (Louis C.K.) and Irving object to his entrapment plan to catch Carmine for doing dodgy business, but Sydney secures an unauthorised transfer of $2 million, Stoddard's boss Anthony Amado (Jurassic Park III's Alessandro Nivola) wants the operation to go ahead as well. Carmine is convinced that the Sheikh is legitimate, and that he doesn't like Richie, the two become friends, but Richie does not consult the others as to who will be the Sheikh, he chooses Mexican-American FBI agent Paco Hernandez (Michael Peña), and later posing as this wealthy Arab they go to a casino to meet violent Mafia overlord Victor Tellegio (Robert De Niro), a necessary part to the deal before doing business, the mobster requires a $10 million wire transfer to know the Sheikh is legitimate, Irving knows that the situation is going out of control. Richie has been getting very close to Sydney, still convinced that she is British, but she becomes confused and aggressive after he admits he loves her, and drops her accent to reveal her true identity, Irving arrives and after all is explained tries to back out of their deal, but Richie tells them that if they do call it off Tellegio will find out the scam and kill everyone close or connected to them. Rosalyn is having an affair with mobster Pete Musane (Jack Huston), who she met at a party, as she feels unloved by Irving who she thought was with working with the Internal Revenue Service, after being confronted by him she agrees to keep quiet for husband to allow the Sheikh scam deal to go ahead, but she wants to get divorced by the end of it. Richie and Irving entrap members of Congress, with the help of Carmine, into receiving bribes, and videotapes them doing it, he needs $10 million from Amado to entrap Tellegio, so a meeting is set with the gangster's lawyer Alfonse Simone (Paul Herman) who accepts the transfer, Irving later reveals the scam to Carmine, the money is missing and an anonymous says they will give it back if Irving and Sydney are immune from arrest and the mayor gets a reduced sentence, Amado is prepared to have this deal, Irving thinks Richie either has the money himself is has been incompetent. But the big reveal is that Richie is the one that has been conned, a friend posed as Tellegio's lawyer for Irving to gain the advantage and stay away from the mob, Amado accepts the deal and Richie is dropped into obscurity, Irving and Sydney drop the conning game and open an authentic art gallery, and move in together, Rosalyn divorces her husband, gets married to Pete, and allows to share custody of Danny, the mob allow Irving to live as attention from them was deflected, but he does regret what happened to Carmine. Also starring Elisabeth Röhm as Dolly Polito, Colleen Camp as Brenda, Shea Whigham as Carl Elway, Saïd Taghmaoui as Irv's Sheik Plant and Licence to Kill's Anthony Zerbe as Senator Horton Mitchell. Only the year before director Russell was nominated many Oscars for Silver Linings Playbook, including all four acting categories, which had not happened since Reds in 1981, but it happened again for this film, and deservedly so, Bale is fantastic as the lead con artist, Adams is brilliant as his reliable but nervous confidant, Lawrence steals the show as the wife who is ditsy but can shoot her mouth off, and Cooper is likable as the cop who unknowingly becomes part of the game playing. This feels authentic, down to the obvious wigs, polyester suits and popular 70's music, but it proves itself to be more than a caper, it cunning and clever, and works as a great character piece, part of the fun is the stars playing off against each other, it is a highly watchable crime drama based on a true story. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design and Best Writing, Original Screenplay, it won the BAFTAs for Best Original Screenplay and Best Make Up/Hair, and it was nominated for Best Film, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, and it was nominated for Best Screenplay. Very good!