Already attracting awards buzz
and with seven Golden Globe nominations to its name, David O. Russell’s American Hustle is one of the early
showers from this year’s awards season. Set in the late 1970s and making use of
an ensemble cast plucked from his most recent productions, the film is set in
the world of an experienced and successful con artist called Irving Rosenfeld
(Christian Bale). Irving and his partner Sydney (Amy Adams) are caught by
cocksure and ambitious FBI Agent Richard DiMasso (Bradley Cooper) who offers
immunity in exchange for help in capturing more prized targets.
The plot isn’t a strong area of American Hustle which is why I’m
surprised its screenplay has received many of the film’s plaudits. Although it
spirals seemingly uncontrollably into deeper recesses of confusion, subterfuge
and double cross, it features a sagging belly larger than that sported by Bale
and drags on for too long before reaching its always expected conclusion. The
movie’s strengths lie elsewhere, primarily in the design and acting, two areas
for which the film deserves all the plaudits its being given.
