December 26, 2013
 
Lies, sex, drugs and really bad hair. Set in the late 1970s and loosely based on the ‘art’ of hustling, “American Hustle” tells the story of what happens when you try to basically hustle a hustler. I really never thought that a drama could keep me on the edge of my seat, but this film, directed by David O. Russell, keeps you guessing all the way to the end. You get invested in the characters and find yourself rooting for the bad guys.
 
In 1978, small businessman Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) meets stripper Sydney (Amy Adams). The pair fall in love and continue Irving’s ‘side business’ of hustling people Sydney takes on the persona of British businesswoman Edith Greensly, who has connections to British banks. However, while trying to get another investor, FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) catches them in the act.  With a big head and his eye on the prize to take down more crooks, Richie makes a deal with Irving and Edith, they help him catch four more bad guys and they can go free.
 
But all is not what is seems. Irving has a manipulating wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) and child at home. He essentially lives two lives and soon finds himself slightly losing his way. At first, Irving and Sydney make a plan to do what Richie wants, Sydney begrudgingly because Irving won’t leave Rosalyn. She tells Irving she’s going to pretend to fall for Richie to get close to the investigation. However, you almost believe that the pair is falling for each other. But Richie also has secrets of his own.
 
All three work together to bring down some politicians, including the new mayor of Camden, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). They plan to bring a very wealthy Shiek investor to New Jersey to invest in the rebuilding of Atlantic City. And pretty soon, they are meeting with some mob members and get in very deep.
 
But again, all is not what it seems. I won’t give anymore away, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. With a runtime of almost three hours, Russell does a great job allowing the actors to build up the characters. As I mentioned, you start to root for Irving and Sydney. Or maybe you really want Richie to catch all the bad guys. And you really do feel for Carmine, though you’re probably not sure why. Bale, Adams, Renner, Lawrence and Cooper are all top notch and bring their A game. Lawrence, though a minor part, really shines and almost steals the film as the crazy, depressed gold digger Rosalyn. But the real star is Adams. From start to finish, you really do fall in love with her, just like Irving and Richie. And quite frankly, women are smarter anyway. Irving was only doing some small-time wheeling and dealing until Sydney came along.
 
With all the great films out in the theater now, make sure American Hustle stays on your list of must-sees. You won’t regret it.