It's 1978 and Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a con-man by necessity. His partner in crime is Sydney (Amy Adams), aka "Lady Edith Greensly." Together, they run a dry-cleaner racket. They're found out by FBI man Richard DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), but they're spared from jail time. Instead, DiMaso offers them clemency if they help him bust corrupt politicians with their con-games.
They thus establish the real-life Abscam scheme. In this scheme, Rosenfeld entices crooked politicals with promises of business from a wealthy "Arab Sheik." Their first target is Camden mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), who hopes to use his Mafia connections to revive Atlantic City. But the operation starts to go awry when Irving and Carmine become buddies. Meanwhile, Irving's much-younger wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) inadvertently almost blows her husband's cover.
David O'Russell's latest film opens with the sight of a bald, paunchy Irving. From then on, we know that this film is out to have fun with history. And indeed, the film has plenty of laugh-out loud moments. Some of the story was a bit hard to follow, especially in explaining the operation's schematics. But the fogginess of the plot doesn't detract from its jovial sense of humor.
As usual, David O'Russell has a great cast assembled together. They're a perfectly-cast and entertaining ensemble of actors. Among them was Renner as Carmine, a real nice guy; I was wondering through-out just how he was even corrupt. But less ambiguous is Louis C.K. as DiMaso's long suffering boss.
It's a stylish trip to the 70's. Michael Wilkinson's costumes stand-out as much as the (hopefully will be Oscar-nominated) makeup and hair people. They go so well in establishing the film's outlandish take on history. The oldies in the soundtrack, as well as Danny Elfman's original score, are very welcome here.
American Hustle is an hilarious entry into the Oscar race. It's always nice to have films like this among the year's best. It maybe foggy at times, but it's certainly not a cheat.
David O'Russell's latest film opens with the sight of a bald, paunchy Irving. From then on, we know that this film is out to have fun with history. And indeed, the film has plenty of laugh-out loud moments. Some of the story was a bit hard to follow, especially in explaining the operation's schematics. But the fogginess of the plot doesn't detract from its jovial sense of humor.
As usual, David O'Russell has a great cast assembled together. They're a perfectly-cast and entertaining ensemble of actors. Among them was Renner as Carmine, a real nice guy; I was wondering through-out just how he was even corrupt. But less ambiguous is Louis C.K. as DiMaso's long suffering boss.
It's a stylish trip to the 70's. Michael Wilkinson's costumes stand-out as much as the (hopefully will be Oscar-nominated) makeup and hair people. They go so well in establishing the film's outlandish take on history. The oldies in the soundtrack, as well as Danny Elfman's original score, are very welcome here.
American Hustle is an hilarious entry into the Oscar race. It's always nice to have films like this among the year's best. It maybe foggy at times, but it's certainly not a cheat.
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