An Excellent Goodfellas Vibe, But Something Different

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2013)

Wow, filmmaker David O. Russell has come a long way to becoming one of the most popular filmmakers today. Recently having impressed audiences with The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, Russell has struck gold a third time in a row with his latest flick, American Hustle.
Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a man from the Bronx who sports a comb over hairstyle. He works in running cons with his lover Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams). They have been doing successful in conning people to giving them money thanks to Sydney's fake British persona Edith Greensley. Even though they are succeeding, they're lives are complicated by Irving's wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) who he refuses to divorce out of fear of not being allowed to see his son. It isn't until FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) tricks them by being a customer and then arresting Sydney. Feeling attracted to Sydney, Richie will release them on the condition that they help him arrest four other con artists.
In order to set this up, Irving has one of his friends pose as an Arab Sheik looking to invest in American business. An associate suggests doing business with Camden, NJ mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), who is looking to legalize gambling. David O. Russell's film is one of mystery, craziness, and you don't really know who is conning who until it is all revealed at the end.
David O. Russell continue to show his excellence in directing. Russell does just right at pointing the camera at what is important to the story and how what is happening pays off. Another way Russell shows his skill as a story teller is keeping us interested in these characters, who are not really likable.
Eric Warren Singer and Russell co-wrote the script, which gives the film a nice Goodfellas vibe. With the majority of their screenplay focused on Irving and Sydney, it gives us a nice insight into what is in it for each of these characters and how they are all developed.
Christian Bale does an excellent job leading this ensemble as the con man who wants business. Bale dedicates himself to this performance by having gained weight and giving Irving an interesting looking comb over hairstyle. With this role, Bale shows us a guy who does his best to keep his cool despite what he's going through. Amy Adams is knocks her role out of the park as Bale's co-lead and Irving's lover Sydney Prosser. Adams does some impressive work not just as a con artist tricking people with her British accent, but also keeping us on our toes in making us unsure if she is loyal to Irving or Richie. Bradley Cooper is the best in show here as FBI agent Richie DiMaso. As Richie, Cooper showed us how much he has grown as an actor. I liked the choices Cooper made in showing us how much charge Richie is taking and keeping things in order, while trying to please his unhappy boss. Jennifer Lawrence is a riot as she pulls off the role of a 1970's New York housewife. Lawrence engulfs herself into looking the part to a tee, with the hairstyle and dresses she wears. Lawrence does so by using the mannerisms used then and how she gets nosy into her husband's business. Jeremy Renner does some nice work as the mayor who wants to do what he can to bring business to Camden and be able to get the economy going. I even enjoyed the cameo by Robert De Niro as Victor Tellegio, a mob boss who is also looking to do business in Atlantic City.
I also quite enjoyed some of the technical aspects to it. The production design of the film done by Judy Becker was so well done, I felt like I was right there in 1970's New York. The costumes designed by Michael Wilkinson felt authentic to the time period depicted in the film. The soundtrack also had a lot of great tunes that also contributed to the Goodfellas vibe I was getting.