Crooks, swindlers, con-men and turncoat federal agents are just some of the cast of characters that take part in the grandiloquent ruse of David O. Russell’s “American Hustle.” But Russell (“The Silver Linings Playbook”) presents a vision which shows a fairer, though more contrite study of the polyglot hustlers it’s portraying.
Based off the ABSCAM scandal, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ensnares Congressmen, New Jersey Senators and mob members by utilizing a fake sheik to bribe these officials in the ‘70s.
But with a film title such as “American Hustle,” this presents the potential for utter dissociation and a messy bout of aggrandizement. A film begging the question of what “American” means. That can lead into trouble when so often it runs to a sort of narrative entrapment, overstepping its ambition with weighty excess and a whiff of pretension. Though Russell’s “American Hustle” doesn’t seem to be preoccupied with that kind of overarching statement.
Russell’s film begins with a shot of Christian Bale (“Out of the Furnace”) playing Irving Rosenfeld and his bulbous gut. Rosenfeld begins combing over what’s left of his hair into a fuller head. It makes for a compelling character introduction where without words we have a person concerned with the perception of artifice. Grooming and appearance eventually becomes a central theme with characters curling, ironing and combing their hair-do’s into oblivion.
Soon, we’re brought back to the days where Rosenfeld used to swindle unsuspecting dupes into a small time ponzi scheme with the aid of Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams, “Her”), or Lady Edith Greensly, the “London” educated bank connection. Both Prosser and Rosenfeld are caught by the cocksure Richie DiMasso (Bradley Cooper, “The Words”) and forced into a more elaborate plot to bring down the Mayor of New Jersey Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner, “The Bourne Legacy”).
“American Hustle” follows in the vein of Martin Scorsese’s most ebullient films like “Casino” and “Goodfellas,” but it doesn’t have the labyrinthine sense of history that Scorsese imbues in his most ardently loved cinematic exploits. But Russell’s picture is similarly alive with kinetic force with cameras pulling back, rushing forward, whip panning and flowing through ornate locations.
Then there is the issue of Rosenfeld’s bigamous life, where his minor exploits in excess and an affair with Prosser led to an upset his actual wife Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Jennifer Lawrence, “The Silver Linings Playbook”). Lawrence smartly plays her character as cunning, if slightly on her way to overly defiant, as her husband tries with some futility to run away from her.
Quite funnily enough, Russell’s “American Hustle” makes the cinematic claim to being true; beginning with the declaration that “Some of this actually happened.” It’s a clever narrative tool to pump up the entire films proceedings with an urgency that allows for room to embellish. Like Russell’s previous films, “The Silver Lining Playbook” and “The Fighter,” the edifice of “American Hustle” is in the chase for glamour and success. Bale’s wonderfully erratic performance. Cooper’s edgy, crossing into a quasi-caricature, Richie DiMaso. Adams and Lawrence as two fuming love interests.
“American Hustle” can be enterprising, with a cast that oozes gaudy brilliance, and its similarly alive even if the balance of what’s grudgingly true and false is at play.
dkahen-kashi@theeagleonline.com
