A con-artist and his wife gets caught by an FBI agent, who uses them both to get his job done. But, the cop doesn't know he is the one who is being used by the con-artists, and the con-artist doesn't know the cop is aware that he is being used. This is simplified story of David Russel's "American Hustle". This film released in 2013 was one of the most celebrated films that year and grossed over $200 millions. The movie is set in the 70s and it really does take every one back in time. It is based on a real story.
The movie starts of with Irving Rosenfeld, a character played by Christian Bale is seen to be gluing fake hair to his bald scalp. This one scene metaphorically tells the theme of the entire film. Irving is bald and he is sticking hair to his scalp, it kind of tells us not to believe in everything. Things may look real, but they are fake just like the hair on Irving's scalp. Irving is a con-artist who loves himself and enjoys his work. He will be fat and will be wearing thick glasses which will be covering half of his face, but still he manages to impress Sydney Prosser played by Amy Adams,and they both fall in love. Sydney will be a stripper and will join Irving in his field of work. Everything will be going smooth until FBI agent Richie DiMaso played by Bradley Cooper catches both of them and makes them work for him. What follows is an epic story of these two love birds and the people around them.
The movie uses a lot of voice overs, The voice overs tells us about what is happening inside the characters mind. This is seen in many of the Martin Scorsese's films, this is used for almost all the main characters in the film. The movie also feels like a typical Scorsese film, the use of camera, the staging of the actors and last but not the least the presence of Robert De Niro. De Niro appears in the film for just a couple of minutes, but his presence is very powerful. He literally turns the table in the movie. His character is Victor Tellegio, a mafia boss who can smell bullshit from 100 miles away.
The most interesting thing about this film is the balance. There are many talented actors in this film, but not even a single character is greater or lesser than the other. This is because of its script. The audience is made to give attention to all the character equally. This is an advantage for the film in the crime genre, where the audience are meant to be thrown around and be unsure about who is in control. All the characters are treated the same way, this makes the movie much more unpredictable and will keep us engaged throughout.
Finally my favorite scene in this film has to be the Victor Tellegio scene. Well De Niro made all the others look like kids. In this scene a Mexican man is who is posing as an Arab is trying to crack a multi-million dollar deal. But, just at the right movement Tellegio enters and tells something in Arabic to the Mexican guy. This scene is filled with tension and excitement. It is a bit similar to the scene in the "Inglorious Bastards" where Hans Landa is talking to Aldo Reign who is posing as an Italian.
Thank you for reading this post. I could talk about this movie forever, as this is one of my favorites. I highly recommend everyone to watch this film. Even if you have watched it before, give it a re-watch, its worth it. For more posts like and reviews of the latest movies follow me. Cheers!
