Movie Review: American Hustle

A 2013 film directed by David O. Russell and starring Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Jennifer Lawrence. Based on real life events of con-man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his partner in crime Sydney Prosser (Adams) struggling to survive the biggest con of their lives.
As I was watching this movie, I was convinced I was watching a Martin Scorsese film, until I looked at the IMDB page. It has all of the elements of a Scorsese; long track shots, based on true events crime plot, sex, drugs, narration from the main characters, and even Robert De Niro - who has appeared in 8 of Scorsese's films - makes an uncredited cameo as Victor Tellegio! The only different element was the happy ending. Most of Scorsese's films usually end on a bittersweet note, or leaves you feeling bad for the criminal you've been cheering for when they are finally brought to justice. However, this ending has all the main characters land exactly where they want to be, or where they need to be. It's not a bad ending, but if you're going to rip off Scorsese, you might as well go all the way.



Scorsese rip-off or not, this is a very good film on it's own. The characters' struggles are very relatable and the way they justify their criminal actions surprisingly makes sense. Conning people is just the way they've learned how to survive. Like Scorsese's work, it's a film that sets out to humanize criminals and why people con their way through life. It also shows the dark side of the relationships between the characters; with Rosalyn Rosenfeld's (Lawrence) mental issues and the jealousy within the love triangle.
I had only seen Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games so far, and it was refreshing to see one of my favorite actresses in a very different role, and she played it very well. I don't think her story-arc was given the attention it deserved, but that's just my bias, because I enjoyed seeing her crazy character whenever she was on screen. However, the focus of the movie isn't on Rosalyn, she plays her part as the crazy, out of the loop, wife archetype and is put to the side at the end of the movie. The focus is on the con-artists and their story arch is enough to carry the movie and bring a out-of-left field plot-twist at the end.
Overall, if you love Scorsese movies, Jennifer Lawrence, or crime movies in general, then you'll either love this movie or breathe a sigh of relief that a rip-off of one of the best directors of all time didn't win any Oscars. 8/10.