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American Hustle





Director: David O'Russell
Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence


David O'Russell cares about characters and his movies are better for it. Whether or not Wahlberg wins his last fight, whether Lawrence and Cooper end up together, or who wins the end game in Hustle. All these things become incidental because it is about the characters. The way they interact with each other is more important than why they interact with each other. I have to admit I was a little nervous the first twenty minutes or so of American Hustle. I wasn't hating the movie by any means, but I didn't connect with Bale and Adam's characters as quickly as I would have liked. I quickly settled in though. Once Cooper's character shows up and shortly after Lawrence's I was all in and enjoyed every frame of the film.


There is so much to enjoy and glean from every single relationship, and there are a plethora of them. Bale and Adams, Adams and Cooper, Cooper and Bale, Bale and Lawrence, Bale and Renner. Every single interaction is complex, humorous, intense, and most importantly intriguing. O'Russell has become a master film maker in my opinion. His dialogue is spot right down to each actor's accent being perfect. The way he dresses his characters adds a dimension to them as well. It may be trite to say, but everything about American Hustle just feels lived in.


I cannot do a movie like this justice by writing about it but I cannot recommend this movie enough. I know there are some ho-hum reviews out there and frankly I am baffled by them. I have fawned over the characters but would be remiss if I didn't mention the plot which is intriguing. O'Russell doesn't let it get too convoluted or step on the character's toes however which is why this film worked so well for me. The soundtrack is also phenomenal. In your face and fun when it needs to be but in the background when more appropriate. Great music used perfectly. I could go on about this movie all day. It's one of the year's, and possibly O'Russell's, best. See it now.