A full-throttled tribute to the American con man

Rating: 9/10 (17 April 2014)

For all that we revere the farmer, the soldier, the statesman, the law enforcer, the clergyman and the hero, we Americans have always reserved a special place in our hearts for the outlaw, the gangster, the card shark, the con man, the hustler. It's a trait that goes to the very core of our identity as a people, a crucial element in our national mythology. From our most humble beginnings, hustling has stood as a time-honored tradition, a value "as American as apple pie." Indeed, whole genres of literature and popular entertainment have sprung up around this idea. And for all the lip service we pay to what we righteously call the Protestant work ethic, we can't help but subversively admire those who are able to achieve the American Dream through less noble and less arduous means. Indeed, our history is populated with scoundrels and scalawags we've somehow managed to turn into folk heroes, and, while today our grifters operate on Wall Street or in corporate boardrooms rather than on the western frontier, the characteristics are the same: they're all just slick-talking manipulators operating outside the system and making a fortune while doing so. And, oh, how we love it! Unless it's being done to us, of course; then, we're not so crazy about it, which is why when it involves political corruption, the fleecing of us the taxpayer, we may no longer be quite so forthcoming in our admiration.
"American Hustle" is David O. Russell's smart and savvy tribute to the con artist in all of us. He and his co-writer, Eric Warren Singer, have chosen to set their work in the 1970s, an age of polyester suits, ultra-wide lapels, porkchop sideburns and bad comb-overs. It was also host to one of the biggest financial scandals of the modern era, Abscam, an FBI sting operation that resulted in the convictions of a mayor (played by Jeremy Renner), a United States Senator, six United States congressmen and an assortment of state officials from New Jersey and Pennsylvania on bribery and corruption charges. "American Hustle" starts off by declaring that "SOME of this actually happened," and, indeed, the movie's often absurdly comic, larger-than-life quality makes us question the veracity of a good deal of what we're seeing. But no matter because the movie is clearly more a study in character and theme than it is a factual recounting of the events of history (which explains why all the names have been changed to protect the guilty).
And what a cast of characters Russell has gathered for our amusement and delectation! A paunchy, balding Christian Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld, a natural-born shyster who's found a way to earn money (to the tune of $5,000 a crack) through offering loans to people desperate for cash, money these down-on-their-luck individuals will never see. Irving is married to Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), a scatterbrained chatterbox who is so high maintenance that Irving is forced to live on his own even though he supports her and her son, whom he's adopted as his own. Irving's problem is that for all his willingness to rip off people, he may be just a tad too softhearted to be very lucrative at his profession. Enter Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), an attractive woman with some secrets of her own who becomes Irving's business partner and lover. They're not in the business very long before undercover FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) blows the lid off their operation, offering them immunity from prosecution if they'll help take down some bigger fish. Richie is, in many ways, the focal point of the screenplay, a preening, overreaching lawman whose main concern is netting as many big fish in his net as he can in order to make a name for himself. It's not long before tensions are developing among the three principal players, and much of the movie's fun derives from watching these two outsized figures, who find their value in being able to manipulate others to their own advantage, engaging in what amounts to a giant pi**ing contest over strategies, ethics and even Sydney herself.
As with any good tale of con artists and grifters, "American Hustle" beguiles us with the spectacle of hustlers hustling the hustlers, since, as we're told, hustlers are ultimately just people "doing what they need to do to survive." It gets to the point that not only do the characters not know who's telling the truth and who's playing whom, the audience can't tell either. And even though Richie thinks he's shrewd enough to play in the big leagues, he soon learns the bitter lesson that, when it comes to hustling, amateurs should never mess around with professionals.
Russell employs a dizzying whirlwind technique - consisting of fast-paced storytelling, energetic camera-work and editing, snappy dialogue, crisp narration - that puts one in mind of "Goodfellas." Even when the action is set in an enclosed room, which is often the case, the movie never stops moving. It's alive and we're alive to it. Moreover, the spot-on period details, especially the uber-tacky 70s fashions, only serve to heighten the absurd humor of the tale we're watching.
"American Hustle" boasts one of the finest acing ensembles we've come across in quite some time, which, in addition to the main cast, includes Louie CK, Michael Pena and Robert De Niro, among others.
There's a manic energy in both the performances and the filmmaking in "American Hustle" that perfectly reflects the soul of a nation founded on youthful vigor and anti-establishment rule-breaking. And indeed it's that uniquely American spirit of anarchic iconoclasm that Russell captures to such memorable effect in "American Hustle."