American Hustle

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2014)

I was lucky enough to be able to see American Hustle, twice in theatres and each viewing made me like and appreciate the film even more. Because there is often so much going on in this film, I feel that most people would probably do better with a second viewing as I did, as I understood things better, picked up on more things and also appreciated the sense of humour the film has as well as ultimately enjoying it a lot more than on my first viewing. I still liked the film the first time I saw it, but after a second viewing I can safely say that it was one of my favourite films of 2013. In the wrong hands this film could have been your average Hollywood type grifter and con man film, but talent like David O. Russell and his amazing cast make it ever so much more than that. The original screenplay by O. Russell and Eric Singer is brilliant. I loved the way it combined the crime elements of the story as well as the drama and some of the most delectably offbeat humour, some of the best I have seen in awhile and I smiled and laughed out loud many times during the film. It's one of the more original and unique films of this year and that is one of the reasons I liked it so much. Here is a film where you have some very strong components that all seem to work to perfection. You have great acting from the main cast right down to the supporting characters. They are all great in their roles here and with a lot of these characters they have been given a couple of more dimensions than your usual Hollywood characters, so there is more to them than you may think and after the film is over and you have thought about it for awhile, you really start to appreciate everything this cast and crew did with these characters because they are so interesting, offbeat and sometimes charming at the same time. Once you piece the entire film together after you have seen it, it really makes you appreciate everything that went into it with the great writing, cast and directing. I love when you have a film such as this where the writing is so sharp and you have an excellent team of actors knocking their performances out of the ball park and delivering top notch material to already top notch writing. It is often a joy to watch. I enjoyed the 1970's setting of the film with the interior and exterior shots of buildings, the flashy clothes the characters wear and the selection of pop and rock songs that were popular at that time, which play in the film's background. All of it helped enhance the mood and made you believe that either it was the 70's, or you were watching a film from that time. I also really liked the stylish nature of the film's cinematography and direction. There were a number of camera shots and editing that I really enjoyed and found both interesting in a visual kind of way, but it also gave the film style and it's own unique way of getting this story across. I personally feel that director David O. Russell, is on a hot streak. I really enjoyed I Heart Huckabees, when I saw it back in 2004 and I loved The Fighter and readers of my reviews will know that Silver Linings Playbook, was one of my top 3 films of last year. This is a guy who can tell an excellent story and gets the best possible acting out of his actors. Jennifer Lawrence won an Oscar last year for Silver Linings Playbook, and I have no doubt that she will be nominated for her performance this year in American Hustle. All the performances in this are awards worthy, it has just been an impressive year and Lawrence, is so far the only for sure lock as far as awards nominations go, but the whole cast is absolutely fantastic here. At one point I read that David O. Russell, was considering doing a biopic of cult director Russ Meyer, but I have not seen, or heard any more about that project. Seeing what he could do here with his humour and take on the 1970's, I would personally love to see that film get made, being a personal fan of Russ Meyer and now of David O. Russell as well. I am sure however that whatever his next film is, that it will be a hit because he seems to be on a hot streak with no signs of slowing down. As it stands, American Hustle is one of the most original and fun films of 2013 and I recommend if you have a chance to see it more than once as I did, because you'll appreciate it even more and I think that is the way the film was meant to be seen.