You'be Been Hustled
Whilst his father worked hard Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) learned from a young age how to make money through hustling and now he has his fingers in various small time hustles including one with Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) who pretends to be a Lady from England to swindle people out of their money. But after Sydney is caught but eager FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) they find themselves forced to take part in a sting operation which goes from trying to catch Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) to taking down a mafia boss. It leaves Irving caught between doing the dirty on his people or getting in deeper trouble with the FBI which with his volatile wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) things could get messy.
"American Hustle" is the sort of movie which restores much of what I believe after having been proven wrong. Sometimes a movie gets a shed load of praise when in truth it is barely okay and trust me "American Hustle" is barely okay. I'd better say spoiler alert now so head off and read another review if you don't want to know what happens.... Okay so we have conman Irving caught between a rock and hard place both when it comes to the hustle he has to make because of the FBI but also romantically and so we watch how he gets himself out of the hole he finds himself in. That is it, that is what "American Hustle" is about and trust me it does not make a great movie or warrant one which is 138 minutes long.
But wait let me tell you why I think this movie has garnered such praise and firstly credit to David O. Russell because at times I felt like I was watching a Scorsese movie with that magic combination of narration, soundtrack and 70s setting. Oh there are some debatable scene choices in there, a scene at a disco is pure excess and corny at the same time but there is a nice style which I am sure appealed to many. But the big thing is that cast and I am sorry but the performances didn't do anything for me and the characters seem to rely on gimmicks be it Bradley Cooper with a perm to Amy Adams constantly wearing slashed to the navel tops.
What this all boils down to is that "American Hustle" not only didn't do it for me but I seriously think this is one of the most over hyped movies in recent years. Maybe for those who watch because they are mad for one of its stars will enjoy but beyond the star appeal it doesn't offer much.
