In the late Nineteen Seventies, when Watergate was still fresh in the minds
of the American public, several politicians were indicted for accepting bribes
from fake businessmen in the FBI-led sting operation known as Abscam. In David
O’ Russell’s new film, American Hustle follows
the Abscam operation from the lives of those involved in the big sting; Irving
Rosenfeld, a two-bit con artist with a complex toupee (Christian Bale) and
Sydney Prosser, his sexy siren of a partner (Amy Adams) who both collaborate
with a renegade FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to bring down Camden, New Jersey
mayor, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Mixed into the fray of deception and
corruption is Rosenfeld’s loose cannon wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence). No
film prior to American Hustle has
uncovered the Abscam scandal, and as intriguing the events are portrayed on
screen, the film is nothing more than a shameless remake of Martin Scorsese’s Casino mixed with the screwball comedic
antics of Frank Oz’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
O’Russell doesn’t just tip his hat to Scorsese and
his elaborate style of storytelling and cinematography; he falls flat on his
knees kissing Scorese’s feet as if they belonged to the Pope. At first, you’re
pulled into the comedic dialogue between Bale and Cooper in the beginning of
the film, but the narration mixed with the off the wall actions by the
protagonists turns the film from a lively look at the world of corruption and
charlatans into a stale, one-off piece of dinner theatre. Having said that, the
actors are not to be sullied; if anything, the cast should be praised as they
soldiers through the dilapidated debris.
Christian Bale manages to bring the charm and
swagger as Rosenfeld, a con-artist with a bark worse than his bite with a
grizzled voice that doesn’t evoke Batman, but more of Al Pacino during his Scent of a Woman and Heat period. Amy Adams is always a
pleasure to watch on screen, but her high points come during the film’s third
act as her character’s vulnerability surfaces over her seductive ethos. Bradley
Cooper has a ball as FBI agent, Richie DiMaso, but his hubris and cowboy-like
presence in the film’s finale becomes more of a parody of Serpico or Donnie Brasco
without the dramatic presence of Pacino or Depp. Jennifer Lawrence is on her
A-game as Rosealyn when she works the room at cocktail parties, yet she goes
off the deep end one too many times when confronting Irving in the bedroom or
Amy Adams in a public restroom.
Ironically, the only straight-shooter in the acting
ensemble is Jeremy Renner as the naïve and corrupt Carmine Polito, who is
loosely based off of Abscam target and former mayor of Camden, Angelo
Errichetti. The chemistry between Renner and Bale is what holds the film
together leading to an emotional rendezvous at the film’s climax. Louis C.K.,
who plays DiMaso’s supervisor, is brilliantly funny and unforgettable as he
tries to reign in DiMaso from going over his head. There’s one cameo in the
film that remains nameless, but his presence as a heavy-hitting casino racketeer
is a calm sigh of relief from the hectic energy revolving around the film.
Originally perceived as a stylish, stranger-than-fiction
drama in the tradition of Argo or Charlie Wilson’s War, American Hustle is a hit-or-miss film
that doesn’t give the same level of satisfying results as the aforementioned
films. In short, a two-hour and twenty minute film about the Abscam crisis may
sound appealing, but its results make you feel scammed.
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