American Hustle (2013)

Directed by: David O. Russell
Country: USA

Movie Review: Thoroughly entertaining, “American Hustle” is the new crime comedy by helmer David O.Russell, inspired by the Abscam scandal that took place in the late 70’s. Russell picks up four excellent actors with whom he had worked before and the result was a visibly comfortable and efficient interaction. Christian Bale was superb, showing how amazingly he adapts to his characters, this time appearing as Irving Rosenfeld, a swindler with a disgusting belly and artificial hair. His heart gets broken when his sexy partner in crime, Sidney Prosser (Amy Adams), makes a swap to the side of FBI agent, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). This tempestuous cop makes a sort of an agreement with them, envisioning the arrest of Jersey’s political big fish associated to fraudulent actions. Irving seemed to have lost his beloved Sidney, but promptly uses his nosy wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) for the conveniences. Of all these fantastic performances, Cooper was the weakest, probably due to personify a not so exuberant or funny character compared to the others. The artful plot expresses occasionally some self-pride that could be sign of excessive confidence, but the sparse moments where the film doesn’t work so fine are quickly overtaken by throwing some irresistible gags. Besides, the story’s turns made me change sides along the way, which is positive. With all things considered, “American Hustle” doesn’t have the charm of “Silver Linings” or the impact of “The Fighter”, but its risky, messed up story, turned out favorably funny.