Great Retro Vibe and Awesome Performances

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2014)

So, I had the realization recently that I'd never actually seen a David O. Russell film. I've somehow gone as long as I have without them, despite hearing nothing but great things about them. I've seen his films come and go and there's never been one that's been interesting enough for me to watch. Until American HUSTLE. I'm a sucker for the sixties and seventies, and the film's got a nice roster of talent: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner. Honestly, the images of Bale with a gut and a comb-over were enough to garner my interest. It's just so bizarre. I'm glad I checked it out because it was one of the more entertaining movies I saw in 2013. It's funnier than I expected and I love a good con-man tale. American HUSTLE is apparently inspired by real events. Specifically, the Abscam investigation from the late seventies. The film focuses on the con artists at the heart of the investigation: Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Adams). After being busted for fraud, the two are given a second chance when approached by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper). DiMaso's interested in the bigger picture of political corruption, and he wants Rosenfeld and Prosser to cooperate with the operation. Their first target is Carmine Polito (Renner), the mayor of Camden, in hopes of getting him to accept bribes from a fictional Arab sheik in return for funding to rebuild Atlantic City. The operation gains traction and soon DiMaso's got the opportunity to go after Congressmen, as long as the plan isn't ruined by Rosenfeld's crass wife (Lawrence) or the threat of involvement from the mob.
For starters, I love the film's design. Kudos to design team for recreating everything about the seventies and giving a cool authenticity to the whole film. The music, the fashion, and the production design all bring the seventies to life and the cinematography from Linus Sandgren takes it to another level. I've got to say, this movie is gorgeous to look at. The soundtrack's great and builds on the vibe with tunes from Elton John, Santana, and, my personal favorite addition, the title track for LIVE AND LET DIE from Paul McCartney & Wings. You almost wouldn't recognize Bale as Rosenfeld. With his gut hanging over his pants and a hilarious comb-over that we watch him carefully construct in the opening scene of the film, he oozes seventies swindler in his retro suits and aviator sunglasses. Jeremy Renner reminds us that he's more than an action star as the scam's main focus, Mayor Carmine Polito. With his Jersey accent and pompadour hair, he disappears into his character pretty effectively and becomes the only real sympathetic character. Polito does what he does in the movie with his sole intention being rebuilding his beloved town. He sees the ghettos and the hard times and sees the arrival of the "sheik" as his chance of reviving commerce. Renner's great and breaks away from the Marvel/Hawkeye role that I (and probably many people at this point, seeing as it's how his most prominent recent role) associate him with.
It's not fair to focus on just Bale and Renner because everyone in this movie is great. Everyone seems to step out of their comfort zone a bit for roles that you wouldn't normally attribute to them. Bradley Cooper, usually a handsome leading man, is an ambitious FBI agent who quickly discovers he's the butt of the joke. Jennifer Lawrence turns on the white trash for her role as Rosalyn, Irving's wife. Yes, her character is aggravating (a stereotypical Jersey wife, if garbage reality TV is any indication) but you see the motivations behind her often dangerous behavior. If nothing else, it's interesting to see her as someone so damaged and crude. The characters in the film are all interesting in their own ways and I love their natural interactions. I'd seen there was a good deal of improvisation on set and, if that's the case, it worked out well. I love the natural flow of conversation and I think, for it to have turned out as it did, the actors/actresses had to have really inhabited their characters. As a result, American HUSTLE is a lot of fun. I was surprised to find that the movie ran for almost an hour and a half but you never feel its length. It's got a great flow, even if the ending feels a little rushed. Once the mob becomes involved (with an awesome cameo I didn't see coming), the film sort of runs for the finish line and ties it up a little quicker than I expected for a scam so complex. If I were to have any complaints about American HUSTLE, I suppose it'd be that the whole Abscam thing seems overly complicated at times without knowing some history behind it but it's not enough to detract from the fun of this film.