If there is an award for a movie featuring a parade of bad hair and flashy costume, American Hustle will probably win the top award. I would wager that you would at least smile to yourself seeing the opening act when American Hustle director, David O. Russell of The Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter made the Batman into something that you would never see in movies starring Christian Bale before this. Bale’s character has a pot belly with thinning hair that requires five minutes just to make it look good.
Then, there’s also Bradley Cooper who is made to sport
a short curly hairstyle and beard while Jeremy Renner looks ridiculous with his Elvis Presley haircut that reminds me of the cartoon character, Johnny Bravo.However, this is definitely not a movie about hairstyles or cleavage parades. The story plot is adapted from real events which is the ABSCAM FBI operation in the late 70's to early 80's. It was a high-level covert operation targeting cases of corruption in the ranks of senators and members of congress that became national news.
Bale plays the role of Irving Rosenfeld who owns a laundry business and moonlighting as a con artist. With his girlfriend, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), a former stripper, they manage to fool a lot of people until finally an undercover FBI agent, Richard "Richie" DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) catches them in the act and then
forces them to work for him.But Richie has more ambitious plans greater than just catching a couple of con artists. They strike a deal in which Rosenfeld and Prosser will not be charged as long as they are willing to work together with the FBI to trap corrupt officials of New Jersey.
Even though this movie is said to be based on actual events, many of the elements in this movie had been exaggerated and some even fabricated to make it more entertaining and spectacular than it actually is. It’s also so that more complexity can be given to the characters as well as to make the characters appear more human. Elements of family conflict, love triangle and blind ambition give the story plot a David O. Russell trademark signature.
American Hustle stars some of the greatest actors and actresses. In this movie, Russell reunited actors and actresses from his last two films; Christian Bale and Amy Adams from The Fighter and Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence from Silver Linings Playbook. Russell even surprised the audience with a cameo appearance of Robert De Niro who isn’t even credited in the movie. It may be that this is the best collection of an all star cast of 2013.
