Celebrating its 10th anniversary, it's director David O. Russell's American Hustle. With a stellar cast and a great script, this black comedy crime romp is great fun.
It's not perfect. But it's funny and engaging, moving at a lively pace as it depicts a cast of charismatic con artists doing their thing in 1970s America.
Con Artists Galore in American Hustle
The film was inspired by the FBI Abscam operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. So the cast of characters were based on real people.
Opening in 1978, we meet con artist Irving Rosenfield (Christian Bale), a character based on the real-life Mel Weinberg. He's just started a relationship with Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), but is still clinging to his marriage to the drunk and unpredictable Rosalyn Rosenfield (Jennifer Lawrence).
He's worried if he leaves Rosalyn he'll lose access to his young son Danny. She's also threatened to report Irving to the police if he goes.
Now, you think "con artist" and the term "total bastard" springs to mind.
What American Hustle does (whether you agree with it or not) is highlight these characters as deeply flawed by likeable. They're charming.
It's like in Martin Scorsese's' Goodfellas (1990), you spend time with these mafia maniacs and yet their behaviour is enjoyable to be around. It's an odd thing, but a way films get you to think more openly about these sort of people.
This is made clear from the opening when Irving (an excellent performance by Christian Bale) highlights just how much of a sham his life is.
This was another one of Bale's body transformation roles, as he's normally buff as all hell for his various films (particularly in 2013 just after the final Batman).
What's going on in the scene is FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) has caught Irving and Sydney in a loan scam.
Now he's using them to try and capture bigger scale con artists, but has offered them amnesty in return for their cooperation.
The agent develops a plan to also capture local mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) in a sting operation. A complex web of lies develops from there, with each character wheeling and dealing in the background.
For example, there's Jennifer Lawrence's (at her peak Hunger Games fame) supporting role as the unpredictable, rather accident-prone Rosalyn Rosenfeld. She's the wife of Irving (Bale's character).
Jennifer Lawrence is really terrific, showing off her comedic chops.
One of the highlights is her total commitment to a scene where Rosenfeld (bored at home as a dutiful housewife) gets drunk, power ballads her way along to Live and Let Die, and all whilst doing basic chores.
FBI agent DiMaso is quite wild in his practices and the narrative swings further into the world of the mafia and other powerbrokers.
Whilst all the political and legal shenanigans play out in quite a complex plot of deceit and uncertainty, arguably American Hustle's greatest strength is how it doesn't take itself too seriously.
Personal relationships and romance abound and these are very real moments, just playing out to the backdrop of con artists tomfoolery.
And we think that's what works a treat. Rather than it just being about a bunch of people you hate, they're appealing and human.
This is helped considerably by an excellent cast. Christian Bale is terrific as the complicated Irving Rosenfield, a man seemingly plagued with insecurities and other stuff.
Amy Adams, as always, is terrific. We were still in our Amy Adams phase back in 2013 when we'd watch anything she was in religiously, so this was another double thumbs up from the Adams Fan Club as a performance.
Overall, yes, American Hustle depicts a bunch of loveable rogues. But they do meet their comeuppance for their illegal activities, which ends American Hustle on the right note.
In real life, all seven of those involved faced convictions from United States Congress for their actions.
It's not a sympathetic telling in favour of their actions, more a documentation of these flawed individuals are what drove them to take these steps. With a wicked, dark sense of humour the story is told.
Complemented considerably by an impeccable cast on top form.
Some Production Notes for American Hustle
American Hustle was another one of Christian Bale's body transformation films. We can't imagine it's doing his health any good, but you can't fault his commitment.
He turns 50 in January and we kind of like that whenever you watch a Bale performance you know he's often put his heart, soul, and gut into it.
But do stay safe, Mr. Bale! We'd like to see you in many more films.
And this one was another big hit for him being, arguably, the lead actor in an all star cast. With a $40 million budget the film went on to make $251.2 million worldwide.
It also received 10 Oscar nominations... but didn't win one. Bummer. That must be a bit of a downer as a feeling, eh? Luckily for the cast and crew it did at least win a few Golden Globes. Not all bad news, then.
Just to show how effective film crews are, the principal photography began in March 2013 and was wrapped by May. It was shot in around around Boston and New York.
Just to note on the plot, the film was a dramatisation of the Abscam sting operation, so the historical accuracy of the film isn't exactly 100%.
The screenplay was by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell. But there was a great deal of improvisation in scenes, which makes the interactions between characters very lifelike.
Whilst it's not on the Braveheart (1995) levels of inaccuracy, keep in mind it's also more geared towards being entertainment than a gritty and realistic drama.
All the names are changed and the details of the scam were left out of American Hustle. This is one of the reasons why you can actually like the cast. If you knew the devious nature of their crimes you'd be less inclined to spend time with these people.
At the start of the film it states "Some of this actually happened" to cover off the loose way in which the narrative roles with the facts.
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