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.

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson

The first novel in the Millennium Series is as bad-ass as the hype makes it out to be. It's a psychological thriller with everything a reader could ever ask for. Great suspense, characters that feel like real people, and a plot that is very satisfying. I won't talk too much about it because I don't want to spoil anything.
For those of you that don't know, the book is about a Swedish financial journalist named Mikael Blomkvist who takes on a forty year old case of the disappearance of Harriet Vanger. He hires Lisbeth Salander to help him with the case and the plot takes off from there.
The story is mostly through Blomkvist's point of view. He provides a practical perspective of all the events and twists and turns of the plot. He's basically the every guy we're supposed to relate to. The rest of the story is through Salander's perspective. Salander is a very strong character who is cold, calculating, brilliant, ruthless, and mysterious. She makes this novel and pretty much steals the story.
The writing style of the book shows that the late author Stieg Larsson was a perfectionist and took this story seriously. The tone is direct, yet sophisticated. It treats the subject matter with a professional, yet graphic manner that makes the audience take it seriously, while still have an emotional connection with it.
A caution for some of you readers; yes, there is a rape scene. The interesting thing is when Larsson was a teenager he witnessed a rape and felt guilty for years that he couldn't do anything to help the victim. Lisbeth is based on that victim. The original title, according to Wikipedia, "Män som hatar kvinnor" literally means "Men Who Hate Women". Rape is a motif in the novel. It deals with the horror of rape and the degree people with power go to just to abuse people who are weaker than themselves. If you're squimish about that stuff, then this book isn't for you.
I would recommend this book to all fans of crime stories, psychological thrillers, modern Swedish culture, and anyone who enjoys a perfectly written novel. Of course this is an adult book so I would recommend it to anyone who is 18 or older.
I give this book a 10/10. It is that awesome!