Why I Saw It: You can't deny the quality of the cast and I've grown to like David O. Russell movies in general.
Cast: Does it get much better than this? Christian Bale can transform for a role better than anyone. His comb over alone is a sight to be seen. Amy Adams is simply tremendous. You can't take your eyes off her whenever she is on the screen (the fact that bras apparently weren't invented until 1979 certainly helps). I never expected to see Bradley Cooper in a movie as something to get excited about but he has a sly douchebaginess that is so shameless you have to love it. Jennifer Lawrence continues her run of being the best person in Hollywood. She is a force of nature in this and so frustrating, you can't help but love her. Jeremy Renner gets some good moments although he isn't in this at the level of the others. I have to mention Louis C.K. in this, both for my love of him and the fact that is character is the most pathetically funny character in the movie (even though he is basically playing Officer Dave from Parks & Rec.). If I knew accents better I'd probably have some complaints about how well the characters pull them off. Since I don't I'll stick with saying that when measuring the performances, the accents are not the first thing I would credit.
Plot: I don't know anything about ABSCAM so I wasn't bothered by all the embellishments in the story. I'm ok never knowing what was pulled from truth. The story this movie chooses to tell is about two scam artists, Bale and Adams, who get caught by Cooper in a sting. He leverages that into them using their scam to catch some crooked politicians. Lawrence plays Bale's wife and Renner one of the crooked(ish) politicians. I can't say the movie does anything new for the genre. Since it's David O. Russell, there's a little more edge and a lot more humor. The end is pretty clever.
Elephant in the Room: I don't see how it's all that different from Argo. That's because it's not. Both are mostly based on actual events. Both have a healthy injection of laughs. Both collected great actors for an ensemble. I preferred Hustle since it doesn't take itself seriously and has a much better cast. It's weird how Argo won best picture last year and American Hustle is just hoping to pull off a nomination. That's the difference a year can make.
To Sum Things Up:
This is a fun movie. How else can I say it? It's not nearly as dark as Silver Linings Playbook is. Otherwise, I'd say the audience is the same. I was kind of hoping for a Top Ten list type of movie. While good, in a year of so many strong movies, this doesn't stand out beyond the performances (seriously, how great is Amy Adams?).
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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