American Tussle

Rating: 4/10 (9 January 2014)

I expected so much from this movie, and did it deliver? Well, let's see: It has an amazing ensemble cast. Each with their Oscar statues or Oscar nominations. Those cast members each turn in a good to great performance (if the script was there for them). The costumes are fabulous, the set pieces are good, and the cinematography is great. But throughout the film there are things missing. And not just little things that you can't put your finger on. There are big, tremendous, Jennifer Lawrence head banging to "Live and Let Die" things missing.
For starters, the director's choice to start the movie off with a scene from somewhere near the middle is just confusing. The only thing that we learn from that scene is that Irving (Christian Bale) is a balding fatty who is pretty good at covering up his hair. And honestly, it's confusing, because Edith (Amy Adams) has an accent that disappears and reappears about five times during the first fifteen minutes till she narrates to us that she's actually an American. We don't find out why she has an English accent until that fifteen minute mark, and honestly, I'm still trying to answer the question of whether it's worth the first fifteen minutes of confusion.
But unsettling editing choices aside, the script itself is just generic. I don't' want to bore you with all the details of movies that have done these particular cons better so I will cut to the chase: We have a con artist movie which is really about the characters. But without a tightly sewn plot, and endearing character development, those characters are meaningless. Sure they are acted very well, but the only person who actually goes through any meaningful change is Rosalynd (Jennifer Lawrence). Her epiphany that it's okay to break the family tradition is satisfactory for the story because she learns something and she changes. And literally, she is the only person in the film to ponder whether she can change and thinks it's tough while on the other hand, you have someone like Irving and Edith who are just trying so dearly to keep the lives they have that when they do change, you just don't believe it.
There's a scene at the end that really takes the cake too. One that proves this movie need about six more months worth of rewrites and planning before it went ahead with production. Irving finally comes to his senses and has to confess to the only friend that he's ever made that he has lied to that friend and will make said friend go to jail for a long time. What transpires though is a phony and outrageous schtick of a scene followed by a monologue where Irving confesses, "I will regret losing that friendship for the rest of my life." Never really contemplating that the friendship he had was based entirely on lies and that it was a set-up from the beginning. That not once, was any real action Irving took, with the exception of his confession, in the best interest of their "friendship".
The script was completely hackneyed, overwrought with clichés and tropes, and terribly reminiscent of better con movies from the past. The only saving grace of the film which puts us at 7 stars (and which might change in the future if I re-watch it) is the performance of Amy Adams and Christian Bale. Jennifer Lawrence is a star here too, but her choice to use a New Jersey accent, then drop that accent during every scene, is terrible. Bale really does the best with what he has and is always reliable when it comes to transforming his entire body for a role (I love that he commits to being an overweight, balding con artist). And Adams finally shows us what she's worth in a leading role, convincing us that she comes from where she says she comes, and that she doesn't want to be the person she started out in life being. Her emotions are so genuine throughout and it's easy to get caught up in hurricane at any moment.
So, watch Hustle if you dare. But don't go in with high expectations because that will just hurt you for the two hours that you watch it.