American Hustle stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams as two con artists who are forcibly recruited by an FBI agent, played by Bradley Cooper, to entrap politicians in a sting. Based loosely on Abscam, the movie takes place in the 70’s. David O. Russell paints an amazing picture and an engrossing movie.
A couple of other worthy mentions who appear in this movie: Jeremy Renner (AKA: Hawkeye), Robert DeNiro, Jennifer Lawrence and Louis CK. The performances in this movie, across the board, are amazing. Christian Bale should just be handed the Best Actor Oscar right now and Jennifer Lawrence for Best Supporting Actress. Jeremy Renner also does an amazing turn as the nice, but corrupt Mayor of Camden.
Russell gets almost every detail of the era right. One noticeable flaw is a gift bag, not something that was really around in the 70’s. The movie’s only weakness is that the thread that ties the movie together is weaker than the individual characters and their stories. At some points, you’re not exactly sure who to focus upon. Ultimately, it’s really about Bale and Adams and their love, but the movie’s focus or lack their of, makes you think it might actually be about Bradley Cooper or Jennifer Lawrence or that it might just turn into a Mafia movie.
That aside, it’s a fun movie to watch. I don’t know why they attempted to sell the movie as a comedy. If anything, it’s a crime drama with some amusing moments. If you’re strapped and have limited funds to see the movies, I’d put American Hustle on the list of ones you gotta see. I give the movie 8.5 keggers out of 10.
