AMERICAN HUSTLE  3.0***

 

         Let me say at the outset that I am at odds with the majority of critics  in that I thought that American Hustle was a good movie, but  not a great movie.  The Director, David O. Russell, assembled some of Hollywood's most sought-after talent that includes Oscar-winners Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence along with Oscar-nominees Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner.   Based on the popularity of last year's Silver Linings Playbook, and the awesome cast, this was supposed to be Russell's masterpiece.  In my opinion it is not… good, even very good, but not great.

 

Set in New Jersey, American Hustle follows con man  Christian Bale along with his partner and mistress Amy Adams who get caught red-handed in one of their schemes by FBI Agent Bradley Cooper However. instead of imprisonment Cooper convinces the two to try to pull off their biggest heist yet on political operator Jeremy Renner. They agree but Bale has the difficult task of trying to keep his eccentric wife Jennifer Lawrence under control so as not to blow their cover.

 

American Hustle looks and feels like a 70’s  film through and through. Everything from the set pieces, the costumes  and  the soundtrack takes you out of the present and throws you delightfully into the 70’s. The characters' late 70’s dress and hair styles are amazing. Be it Christian Bale’s almost bald head combed to make the hair fuller, Jennifer Lawrence’s upswept hair, Bradley Cooper’s  fake curls or Jeremy Renner’s Elvis Presley hairdo, they are all screaming seventies. But while there is plenty of style, there is little substance. What bothered me most was how overly complicated the plot was which made it hard to follow. Also at times the scenes were overdone and thus  the movie is too long ( 2 hr. 9 min.) . The movie could and should have been funnier, wittier and tighter

 

With that being said, what you do have is one of the best performances in recent times by the "entire" cast. It's a movie about strongly connected characters and how they will blindly step all over each other in order to achieve their goals. It's wonderful seeing such talented people playing such flawed, vulnerable, and believable characters.  Christian Bale is the master of makeover ( he put on 40 to 50 lbs for the role) and is so much into character that at times it’s hard to believe that the same guy played the famous caped crusader. Amy Adams is fabulous and  completely convincing as a conniving ruthless seductress. Jennifer Lawrence is adorable, playing the crazy, eccentric and loud mouthed wife. Bradley Cooper is great with his funny hair playing the over-zealous FBI Agent.  And  I might be stretching it, but Renner has that aura of Joe Pesci. I absolutely loved everyone in the movie. But what really made this movie for me was Jennifer Lawrence. She stole every scene that she was in. Whether she's accidentally setting her kitchen on fire, angrily dancing to "Live and Let Die" or walking around with a neck brace, she is absolutely hilarious.  

 Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and brief violence .

Clark