Escándalo americano

While "American Hustle" has some nice performances, I was very surprised how unexcited I was watching this film. After all, around Oscar time, this was THE film that all the hype seemed to be about and the movie hadn't even debuted yet!! Critics were abuzz and the film got all the major nominations--Best Picture, Best Director, all the acting awards and four other nominations! If I were to create a list of most overrated films of all time, I would include this one simply because of all this hype. No film could be as good as this hype would indicate...and it wasn't.

The movie is a HIGHLY fictionalized retelling of the Abscam affair where the FBI caught a lot of politicians on tape taking bribes. The ending, in particular, is pure Hollywood, not fact. But, instead of focusing mostly on the scam, the film tends to glamorize the characters involved in putting over this sting--the confidence people as well as the FBI.

So why was I so underwhelmed by the film? The biggest reason is that I didn't like any of the people. And, oddly, the one I liked the most was the mayor (Jeremy Renner) caught up in the scandal. Any film about Abscam, even one as fictional as this one, needs to show bad people-- this didn't bother me. But the film so glamorized them and was all about them--and this left me flat.

A few other things bothered me a bit. First, the f-word was not THAT commonly used in the 70s like it is used today. Historically, this is inaccurate, as it was used something like 27102391294 times. Second, while I liked the period music (as well as some new music by Jeff Lynne that sounded period), it was often too invasive--like a music video.

In closing, I think if the film had never been hyped, I might have enjoyed it a lot more and scored it higher.

American Hustle is built as the 2013 revival of classic Scorsese gangster pictures like Goodfellas and Casino, but without the gangsters. It has the plot twists, the plethora of pop tunes, the conniving characters, the backstabbings, the high life, the low life, the disgruntled females merciless attached to crooked husbands, the stranded children, and so on. But it's new. Fresh out of the oven. Baked with wonderful performances and tight scriptwriting. And it has characters who inhabit the story and make it their own.

The movie begins in medias res, with two con men -- and one con lady -- attempting to buy out a Jersey mayor. There's a lovely opening shot of Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale, almost unrecognisable) carefully and painstakingly combing over his thinning strands of hair. This scene reminded me very much of the opening of Richard Linklater's Bernie, where a plump but serene mortician played by Jack Black joyfully lectures a scarce hall of students on the process of embalming. It's a slow scene, maybe too slow to open up a movie, but we are never bored, because we are given insight to a skill that we've never seen before, or don't know much about. It's the same with this scene. I've never seen anyone cover up bald. It's always bald being uncovered; wigs and toupees accidentally being ripped off, or blown away by strong winds. The scene also informs us that Irving is a certain kind of character.

After jumping to a series of flashbacks, in which the history between Irving and his long-time girlfriend Sydney (Amy Adams, almost unrecognisable without her makeup) is revealed to have blossomed over a shared love of Duke Ellington, the plot begins proper. Irving and Sydney -- now posing as a wealthy British banker named Edith -- have been arrested by Richie (Bradley Cooper, fully recognisable despite his hairdo), an ambitious FBI agent who thinks he has the wit and skill to take down corrupt congressmen and casino gangsters with flimsy, ill-conceived plans. He ropes Irving and Sydney into his little schemes, and soon has them taking on an entire network of illegal tradesmen.

Caught in the middle are two people: Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), and Irving's wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence). Carmine is the mayor whom the trio wanted to con at the start of the movie. He becomes integral to the plot when Irving develops a friendship with him. Do I tell him that I've been conning him all along, and that my innocent little scheme might get him arrested in front of his wife and six children? Or do I stay quiet, maintain the friendship, and face my conscience alone? What he does, I will not say.

Rosalyn is an interesting character. Yes, she skirts dangerously close to the Sharon Stones and Lorraine Braccos of the old Scorsese pictures, but Jennifer Lawrence is able to lift her away from them by being more grounded. Stone always seemed to operate on her own terms in Casino. She was a third wheel, functioning outside of the overall story. Here, Rosalyn is fully aware of the situation at hand. She's right smack in the middle of the story. She doesn't love Irving. Irving doesn't love her. But they both love their son, and Rosalyn doesn't want a divorce tarnishing her solid family marital integrity. But she knows that the love festering in the household is only producing toxic fumes. Where her character goes is a place best kept hidden.

And then there's a mix of other secondary characters, including perhaps the best cameo I've seen (not because of the cameo itself, but because of the meaning of the cameo). All of them dip in and out of this intelligent story with impact. Why, even Richie's boss, Stoddard Thorsen (Louis C.K.), is a lovely guy. He provides much of the movie's humour, and there is much of it. Director David O. Russell has said that his goal with American Hustle was to focus on the characters instead of the plot. Indeed, what a good decision. It's a rare moment when not a single character seems out of place. They complement each other, whether they're kissing, punching, clawing, or scratching. And they share so much chemistry that you could select any two of them at random, chuck them into an empty room, and watch them chatter till their throats went dry.

I attended a screening of this movie in Mandurah, which is a lovely place. The cinema had maybe nine other patrons (weird, considering it was opening day). I'd been to Mandurah a few times before, and I watched The Counselor there. That was a poor movie, but the screening was smooth, which is more than I can say for the screening of this film. With about 15 minutes to go, the video jammed and stuttered slowly to a halt. It's the first time I've seen digital video jam. And it couldn't have happened at a worse time. The projectionist eventually rectified the problem, but I had already been sucked out of the moment. That's a pity, because American Hustle was shaping up to be one of the best movies of the year. You know what? Screw it. It still is.

It did not take an astronomical amount of time during my screening of American Hustle to realize I had found the best film of the 2013. American Hustle was not what I expected, but in the best way possible. Acting as almost a descendant of Goodfellas, it does not rip off the story or characters, but traces of Martin Scorsese's masterpiece can be found in the style and spirit of David O'Russell's now masterpiece. O'Russell keeps his controlled hand over the wild characters and fast-paced plot; for the crime movie it is, class seems high on the list of "musts."

The commenters of the screenplay have noted how much of a blast the screenplay is; a blast it is, but most are ignoring the intricacy of the screenplay by David O'Russell and Eric Singer. The groundwork is the twisty fraud story, which is snappy, entertaining, and full of surprises. The next layer is the character work of the five leading roles, the screenplay inflames all the characters to reveal their unique cores. The third layer details those characters each with their own object of symbolism including a comb over, a British accent, hair curlers, nail polish, and a science oven. Layer four is the screwball comedy dialogue exchanges between the characters, which drives comedic artistry out of the actors leaving the audience cheerfully laughing.

The most puzzling compliant about American Hustle many are holding against the film is a lack of deeper meaning. It confuses me because the deeper meaning is quite clear and abundantly there, Amy Adams and Christian Bale even have key moments of literally speaking it to the other characters. It's a story of identities, being unhappy with who you are and the different versions of ourselves we put on display as we encounter different people. We have numerous roles we must play in order to survive, whether it be for respect, love, self-worth, or community. We all do it.

David O'Russell's sight of his screenplay dares him to capture his film in a particular fashion. The camera acts as a silent third party in scenes of where, if the audience were a character in the movie, our eyes would be during the conversations such as focusing on hand gestures, zooming in to characters as they speak, and the length from the characters to the camera in his editing. Where our focus would be in person is where O'Russell places us in his vision where and when he wants us to see what.

The acting ensemble of American Hustle has been called the star of the show, collectively the five leading actors support each other through the two hours and fifteen minutes. Some have found it troubling to select one of the five as the most valuable player because all five do their homework and put the effort in. I anticipated the cast from the trailers and released clips, but I never found myself too terribly excited to see Christian Bale's work, yet he surprised me with how complete his characterization was of Irving Rosenfled. This is a trite way of describing an accomplished acting performance, but Bale warrants it here: I forgot I was watching Christian Bale, the actor, entirely.

Bradley Cooper has made a career by unleashing the inner-asshole in himself; in American Hustle he's the ultimate shade of that character type with an added vibrancy and an immaturity of not feeling respected. Jennifer Lawrence oozes in her supporting role filling the juvenile Rosalyn with hilarity and loneliness. Someone who saw American Hustle with me commented on how unlikeable Lawrence's character is and in lesser hands it may have been more predominant, but Lawrence charms her way through her character's flaws and makes us empathize with her entirely. Jeremy Renner delivers great work as well, but with fewer money moments and less "umph" than his co-stars.

The general consensus may have trouble finding an MVP of the cast, but it was no problem for me. Though I admired everything Bale, Cooper, Lawrence, and Renner added to American Hustle, it's an understatement to say the film belongs to Amy Adams. She's proved herself to be a great talent, but Adams delivers her most accomplished work here. In the Hollywood Reporter's Actress Roundtable earlier this winter, Adams commented how miserable she was during the filming of American Hustle because she was so consumed by her character's identity, or lack-there-of. I've never seen a performance like Adams or a character like Sydney. Adams slips in and out of Sydney's faux British accent as she keeps her cards hidden from all the other characters. We never knows who her loyalties belong to. Tears swell in Adams eyes as she pathologically tells the story of her character, without divulging enough information to be completely vulnerable. It's a sensational performance.

"The world isn't black and white as you say, it's extremely grey," a line Christian Bale imparts to Bradley Cooper, another existential message that is driven by the screenplay. O'Russell exhibits his two main characters, con artists, and asks us to like them enough to follow them for rest of the story. By the end, we have not only accepted them, but love and root for them.

At the heart of American Hustle is a love story between Irving and Sydney, an aspect that I found to be most successful. Adams is at her most gorgeous ever, Bale is balding and fifty pounds over. Their love is not formed around physical attraction, something magical happens in the first twenty minutes and we see and feel the way they fall in love. This supports the film's stance on appearances meaning nothing. With maybe the exception of Blue is the Warmest Color, try to find two 2013 film characters more in love than Irving and Sydney.

I'd heard mixed responses about this film over the years so I had to finally give it a watch. And I'm sorry to anyone that hates this film, but I really enjoyed this one!

The first half an hour or so is quite bland I'll be honest. No obvious direction for the film to go in, I wasn't too sold on any of the characters and just generally the pace was really slow.

But the film massively picks up and it just gets better and better and more interesting with every minute that passes. The ending I thought was fantastic, it ended all the characters arc's amazingly well and had a brilliant twist involved which I didn't see coming.

The standout for me is the acting. When I saw the pretty extravagant cast lineup I was skeptical. Usually films that go all in with cast typically don't do too well. So when I saw Bale, Adams, DeNiro, Renner, Lawrence, Cooper and CK and more I was thinking just that. But this doesn't fall into that category at all! Acting from everyone was superb and a real standout, really added so much more to the characters. Just a great job overall.

But yeah, overall it's a fun, interesting watch with a little touch of subtle humour added which is always nice. 8/10 from me, would recommend.

The performances are the safeguard for this movie to have a very long life. I couldn't care less about the characters but I loved the actors playing them. They, the characters, make choices that are as coarse as their wardrobe. Thank God for the people wearing them .Christian Bale is absolute perfection. His character is disgusting and irresistible at the same time. brilliant performance. Amy Adams is superb and Bradley Cooper an unnerving hoot - also the brief moment with Robert de Niro is simply delicious but it is Jennifer Lawrence who made me want to see the movie again as if to confirm what I seem to remember. Yes indeed. She is spectacular. A performance of such maturity - her laughter alone belongs to one of the great ones of yesteryear. - Totally present. A character actress/star.