American Hustle
by: Oliver Layco
Right from the start American Hustle had a classic 70’s movie feel to it. It started with the Columbia logo coming up, but with an old-fashioned grainy look to it. Then the opening shot of Christian Bale as Irving Rosenfeld with a pot belly and a horrendous comb over made me grin. How often do we get to see Bruce Wayne devolve into a horribly middle aged con-man? Shortly after, we are introduced to Amy Adams as Sydny Prosser and all her cleavage. (Some may have been put off, but I think it worked with the tone and era the film is set in.) Then there is Bradley Cooper as FBI agent Richie DeMaso. All of them would be working together on a case trying to expose Jeremy Renner playing Mayor Carmine Polito. From here it flashbacks to how all these characters started off and eventually met up. Each character feels like they got a good balanced explanation with how important they were to the story. As the story progressed, we get introduced to several more characters; the most notable being Jennifer Lawrence as Rosalyn Rosenfeld and Robert De Niro as Victor Tellegio. There was one scene between Lawrence and Adams that had me more impressed with the young Lawrence. It still surprises me how she already won a Best Actress award. Anyway, as far as the acting goes, I think everyone did a convincing job as a con-artist, FBI agent, and drunken wife would have behaved in the 70’s. They made you feel the debauchery and grittiness of the times. Married people had a mistress on the side, politicians were crooked as ever, and then there’s the soundtrack! It was filled with great classics from the likes of Elton John, The Bee Gees, Tom Jones, and many more. It really added to the whole feel of the movie. The story progressed at a good steady pace with only a few predictable points. Then the climax of the movie was great! While they told us what their plan was, I was curious as to how they were gonna pull it off; needless to say, they did it in a great manner. It was an enjoyable movie that I wouldn’t mind seeing again!
