American Hustle

          The new David O. Russell film is not to be missed. Not only does it tell a fascinating rendition of the Abscam FBI scandal, but it brings the '70s back alive in a glamorous tale of deception. Nevertheless, major pacing indecencies weigh down the tail-end of the story.

          Russell started the movie off bravely -- after a black screen with the white letters saying "Some of this actually happened," we watch Christian Bale glue on a comb-over. It is quite entrancing, actually. Then the title "American Hustle" appears over an anticlimactic slow-mo shot of three characters strutting down the hall of a fancy hotel. Then I sat back in my chair and relaxed, for I respected Russell for not trying to blow us away right off the bat.

          To set off the "groovy" mood straight from the beginning, a beautiful soundtrack started with some Duke Ellington, and immediately we see fabulous costumes. The girls wear revealing, bra-less dresses with firmly-coiled curls. Jeremy Renner looks handsome in his '70s 'do, and Bradley Cooper used around one hundred ten little curlers to sculpt his scalp. Add some aviator shades and everybody's all set.

          The male actors were very funny, and the female actors were a pleasant surprise. Bale, the great method actor that he is, grew a beer belly to play a great con man enlisted by an FBI agent, played by Bradley Cooper. Personally, I believed Cooper more in this movie than I did in Russell's 2012 work, Silver Linings Playbook. He starts to fall in love with Amy Adams' character, who is Bale's mistress and co-hustler. I never used to be a big Amy Adams fan, but recently she's been pulling me in. She gave a solid performance in this, so I'll have to see how she does in Spike Jonze's Her this Friday to seal the deal. (Although, I have to love anyone and everyone involved in that cinematic spectacle.) Meanwhile, Jennifer Lawrence is back at home as the Bale character's talkative housewife. She was funny. Jeremy Renner played the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, who tried to get funds to reboot the well-gone success of Atlantic City, and he did a fine job. Louis C. K. was a nice surprise as a wimpy-yet-funny supporting character. Even the exponentially over-exposed Robert De Niro showed up for a scene, but he's De Niro, so I guess he can do whatever he wants.

          Overall, the whole film was enjoyable, but mainly due to just one scene. To transition between the expository and climactic parts of the movie, the characters got a night off of duty. This not only gave them a night off the sort of clear the slate and have them start to develop new relationships, but more importantly, it gave the audience a chance to properly digest everything we had watched thus far. With this came a great club scene with the perfect music to make it, for me, the scene of the year feeling-wise. Now to the digestion part. Later in the movie, a plan is presented by Lawrence's character to Bale's. It is a relatively long talky scene in which it is easy to get lost in the mess of words and important propositions. Between this sloppy scene and the implementation of the proposed plan, the audience is not given any convenient time to break down what is about to go down. This is underscored by the fact that we had been given a whole lot of time to digest earlier, and I think our brains adapted to that. By the time we get to the climax, our minds simply are not ready for it without the necessary thinking time that just is not there. I think this is why the people I spoke with were not gung-ho about the movie entire.

          Almost all of the major critics deem this the picture of 2013, but the indie filmmakers I have discussed it with unanimously disagree. Although I seem to have enjoyed American Hustle more than any of the people I've talked to about it, I am curious to see how I feel once I watch it again. Last Christmas Eve, although skeptical as I was walking into American Hustle, I really thought Silver Linings Playbook was great. I thought it took a different approach to your average rom-com. Upon viewing the film again a couple months later, I was thoroughly disappointed. It's funny how this pattern shows up with a lot of other directors' work.

          With its lush costumes and lively soundtrack, American Hustle is not one to miss. The feel-good movie of 2013 delivers with believable acting and witty dialogue. The dialogue is nothing like Tarantino's or even Woody Allen's, but it'll make you smile all the same. The major plot jumble around the climax threatens to drown the movie, but I think it manages to tread water.