American Hustle (2013)

Rating: 8/10 (27 January 2020)

Directed by David O. Russell. Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Louis C.K., Jack Huston, Shea Whigham, Alessandro Nivola, Robert De Niro, Michael Peña, Elizabeth Röhm. (R)
After getting busted by the FBI, con artists Bale and Adams are forced to work with volatile agent Cooper so he can make additional arrests, including the mayor of Camden, NJ (Renner). Loosely based on the ABSCAM sting scandal of the late 70s, the film opens with the message: "Some of this actually happened," meaning that it's more honest than most other Hollywood true stories about how a lot of it has been changed, condensed and outright invented for the sake of a good show. And for the most part, it is a good show; a bit too ungainly in its narrative sprawl--encompassing not just the complex nature of the operation, but also the messy lives that the characters navigate on a daily basis (repeated scenes of jealousy get redundant after a while)--but smart dialogue and the gaudy/glitzy production maintain interest all the way. Top-notch ensemble cast delivers, especially Cooper and Adams, though the real star of the film is the men's hairstyles, some of the (intentionally) worst one would find in a major motion picture. De Niro went unbilled for his small role as a mafioso who gets involved in the swindle.
80/100