American Hustle

In 2010, The Fighter starred Christian Bale and Amy Adams. 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook had Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Now, the culmination of director David O. Russell’s cast cycle, American Hustle stars all four of them together. The film, loosely based on a true story, has Bale playing a con-man. But when he and his partner (Adams) get caught by a FBI agent, (Cooper) they are forced to help in an operation. Lawrence plays Bale’s character’s caddy wife. Jeremy Renner also stars as the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, who plays a prominent part in the sting.

Bale’s intense immersion into his roles has been well documented, so the gained weight and comb over are accepted almost instantly as another layer of the Oscar winner’s legacy. Harder to accept is America’s sweetheart, Jennifer Lawrence’s turn as the annoying, meddling housewife. She does well with the role as it doesn’t take the audience long to turn on the character, which is the desired effect. Similarly, it’s not often we see Cooper as the shady confusing guy he plays here, but I would argue this performance is even better than the Oscar nominated one from Silver Linings. It’s more layered and complicated.

The story has the effect that it’s tough to know if you should be laughing or not. The plot development is perfectly paced and without any hiccups as the large number of central figures are each developed. But like the main character, the movie is complicated and not overly concerned with genre. American Hustle is a strong movie through and through. It’s witty and filled with twists, but not in the way an average moviegoer would appreciate. The characters are the focus, and with a cast list that looks like an Oscar ballot, it’s easy to see why the film is so successful.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.