American Hustle

Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Michael Pena, Shea Whigham, Alessandro Nivola, Said Taghmaoui, Adrian Martinez, Robert De Niro (uncredited)
Directed by: David O. Russell
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A con man (Christian Bale) and his mistress (Amy Adams) reluctantly go to work for an FBI Agent (Bradley Cooper) who uses them to expose corruption at the highest levels.

Review:

Tim: Everything was in place here for American Hustle to be one of the all-time greats. You have director David O. Russell coming off two incredible, Academy Award winning films (The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook), you have one of the most impressive casts assembled in recent memory. You have a humorous, crazy true story and a script that sets the actors up for success. It was no surprise when this film nabbed an incredible 10 Academy Award nominations. The surprise came when the film went a shocking 0-10. That's a stunning statistic, but people will make more of it than they need to. The fact of the matter is that American Hustle is a good film, but it's not nearly as good as everyone made it out to be. This movie is certainly no where near my list of the Top 10 movies of 2013.

The biggest strength of this film is the incredible cast. David O. Russell knows how to direct films that get his cast nominated (and often win). There's no doubt about that. This movie garnered acting nominations for its four leads- Christian Bale for Best Actor, Amy Adams for Best Actress, Bradley Cooper for Best Supporting Actor, and Jennifer Lawrence for Best Supporting Actress. That alone is a major feat. Unfortunately for this film, none of them won. Bale is undoubtedly an incredible actor. His performance here showcases his talent, although I feel like maybe he was slightly overrated. People see the fat belly and the terrible hair style, and they sometimes forget to truly examine the performance. He is really good, don't get me wrong, but I did not love his performance. Amy Adams, on the other hand, is terrific. She's another incredible actor and she had a number of opportunities to showcase her talent here. She was tremendous in this film. Bradley Cooper also gives a very good performance. He certainly does have talent and he acts really well underneath that ridiculous perm. It didn't surprise me that Cooper was nominated at all. Jennifer Lawrence is so huge right now, and she gives a short but memorable performance. From her accent to her naivety, she's like a bull in a china shop and it's so much fun to see her hilarious performance. I like Lawrence, but I was glad she didn't win for this role- she was great, but the part was too small and not significant enough.

In addition to those four actors all giving impressive performances, Louis C.K. adds a nice supporting role, Jeremy Renner is pretty incredible (if the cast wasn't so stacked, I could see him snagging a Supporting Actor nomination, too), and Robert De Niro is great in a small uncredited role. The number one reason to see this movie is because the cast is out-of-this-world impressive and they all deliver exceptionally strong performances. I really loved the cast and watching them act in this movie.

Outside of the cast, the movie doesn't have quite enough to offer. It felt like Russell was so smitten with the cast that he put all his time and energy into showcasing their talent and giving them opportunities to choose scenery. The characters are all incredibly memorable. The problem is the story around them really isn't all that compelling. This is a film that focuses far too much on style and not nearly enough on substance. Individual moments are incredible- with the amazing cast, the ridiculously good (and funny) costume design, the editing- it all looks so good. The problem is there's not enough meat underneath it. This is a crazy long movie at 138 minutes when you don't grab people with the story. I never felt any emotional connection to the characters and I wasn't particularly interested in the story around them. There were times when I just felt confused (more about the way the story was presented than my own lack of intelligence) and disconnected from the events on screen. For the last half of the film, I was just waiting for it to end and hoping that the conclusion would be so incredible that it would make the whole endeavor worthwhile. The movie's ending is not nearly as satisfying as it needed to be. This is a film that is all flash. I was really shocked by this.

I would certainly say that American Hustle is a good movie. I enjoyed it and I loved watching the cast in these roles. However, there are dozens and dozens of good movies put out every year. Taken as a whole, this movie has some major flaws. The focus was too much on one or two aspects and not enough on creating a complete film. I love Russell and I love the cast, but this movie does not belong in the same tier as some of his better movies. It doesn't surprise me that so many critics got caught up in the film. Pull the curtain back, however, and this is a sadly shallow film. It's still a good movie, but it will never be more than that.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook