American Hustle Review

American Hustle (2013)

Directed by David O. Russell

Written by Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell

Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence & Jeremy Renner

American Hustle was the last Best Picture nominee that I had yet to see this year’s Oscars. And I got to say, I was a little bit disappointed. I obviously had huge expectations but then again not because I know how Russell makes his films. They are not exactly these stories of great success. They are more about stories of tiny success, that kinda success that gets you through the life. But I was still a bit disappointed. I rolled (that’s what you do when you have the app) my IMDb starring back and forth between eight and seven and ended up giving eight because my parents, after seeing what were the other films that I’ve recently given seven, said: “Come on, it was much better that Little Miss Sunshine.” Guess it was.

The biggest problem in American Hustle is pace. It doesn’t flow. And it should flow especially because it is a con-movie. Con-movies should be as sleek as its characters. The characters sure were cool. Even Christian Bale with his hair-do. And belly (how that good-looking guy can look that repulsive; that’s a talent). Amy Adams did look f***able. And she and Bale were good as always. And it was so nice to see Renner in a good guy’s role for a change. Him and Cooper were good too, like everyone else. And like my mum said after the film: “That Rosalyn was my favourite, she was really good.” Yeah, Lawrence did a bit steal the show. Her character had the best lines and she delivered them. Though not in the Oscar worthy way, so let’s hope Nyong’o get the statue on Sunday (I don’t mind if J-Law gets it though, I still adore her).

It was really refreshing to see a movie with people who don’t watch movies the way I do. My parents, in this case. Another thing that my mum pointed out was that the film happened only in a few locations. If I would be a producer I would give money to Russell. He always delivers and he even though he spends big bucks to actors, his sets are always only few and inexpensive looking. And apparently he shoots his films very quickly (few weeks is what I’ve read). And I would think that these days actors are lining up to perform in his films considering his track record to get the Oscar nominations to his actors (11 nominations in three latest films; that’s A LOT). And his films are always good. Maybe not spectacular but good. So he is definitely worth of every penny that production company puts in. After watching THR’s directors roundtable, I’m a bit more in love with him, he seems very interesting.

American Hustle looks good. I loved hair-dos, make-up and especially clothes. I’d love to wear those outfits that Amy Adams’ character is sporting. If I’d had the guts. I don’t. It could win the costume Oscar but then again, The Great Gatsby looks stunning and the other nominees are not bad either. Otherwise I don’t know. I think I’ll go with Lawrence when it comes to the Best Supporting Actress but the script of AH is not good enough to beat the competition and in other categories too there are much better films. I’ll do the final predictions later tonight, we’ll see if I end up predicting American Hustle in any other category. I doubt it.

Rating: **** (out of 5)