Be hustled. It's worth to

Rating: 9/10 (8 March 2014)

The adjective "American" appended to a ward in a movie title usually implies something with instant design-classic status with a good dose of irony and modernity. So in this "American Hustle" David O.Russell has really done it. For starters the unreliable narration and urgent zooms, the 1970s milieu of flashily dressed scammers and mobsters, the carefully chosen songs underscoring key emotional moments; It's all just there! But unlike Scorcese, Russell infuses them with his unique brand of insanity. Russell is obviously fond of characters on the brink of imploding or exploding and with "American Hustle" he's assembled his own posse of stars from his last two films as his personal acting troupe:Christian Bale and Amy Adams from 2011's "The fighter" and Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence from "Silver Linings Playbook".Russell's latest is based on the Abscam sting operation of the late 70's in which a con artist helped the FBI catch members of Congress taking brides. "Some of this actually happened" a title card warn us at the film's start, and then Russell introduces us to Irving Rosenfeld a con artist and an either paunchy version of Bale. To play this swaggering Rosenfeld,the owner of a small chain of Long Island dry cleaners who makes his real money through fake art and fraudulent personal loans, Bale seemingly downed all the food he denied while shooting "The Machinist" and "Rescue Dawn". He meets his partner Adam's Sydney Posser, a young beautiful woman attracted to his monument of calm and confidence.While Sydney kicks Rosenfield's cons in high gear, the in love and crime partners are forced to work for an FBI agent Richie DiMaso who's confidence and arrogance lead them straight to world of mafia and gangsters which is as dangerous as enchanting. In this messy situation which also affects the good friend and idealist political of Irv's, it's the unpredictable (and dimmer to a few of us) wife of Irv's who could be the one to pull the thread that brings the whole world of Irv's falling apart.The film is probably a tad overlong, but it's a blast to hang out with these people, and Russell creates such an infectiously zany vibe around them that if even you notice the running time, you probably won't mind. For all its brashness and big personality, "American Hustle" is a character study at its core—an exploration of dissatisfaction and drive, and the lengths to which we're willing to go for that elusive thing known as a better life.