Hello Write Readers,
More movie reviews! Our countdown to the Oscars continues with another Best Picture Nominee: American Hustle. I’ve seen a lot of movies lately, but I approached none of them with the enthusiasm with which I entered the theatre for American Hustle. I was beyond ready. I entered the movie theatre in San Antonio, Texas (I was traveling for a conference) with eagerness and disbelief (the disbelief was mostly at the cost of the movie ticket: $4.00 for a matinee, WHAT?). I already knew how great a film it would be- how could it not? It has an all-star cast, a fantastic plot line, and is set in the 1970’s! Talk about a winner.
For those of you who don’t know, American Hustle is a “crime comedy-drama” (I didn’t even know that was a thing) directed by David O. Russell, and starring Christian Bale as Irving Rosenfeld and Amy Adams as Sydney Prosser, who play con artists who end up collaborating with the FBI in order to avoid criminal charges. The illustrious FBI agent they work with is none other than Bradley Cooper, and of course J-Law (Jennifer Lawrence) appears as Christian Bale’s wife, Rosalyn. American Hustle was nominated for a whopping ten Academy Awards, and is the second film since 1981 to be nominated in all four acting categories (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress). And let’s not forget that the first film since 1981 to do that was Silver Linings Playbook, which was also directed by David O. Russell, and also starred Bradley Cooper and J-Law. The film takes place in 1978, involves quality 70’s attire, fabulous facial hair, and a comb over like you’ve never seen before.
I have clearly just listed a billion great things about American Hustle. I could just stop writing right now, and have that be the review. You’d figure out how wonderful the film was, and I wouldn’t need to say another word. Having said that…it wasn’t that awesome.
Hear me out.
The acting was fantastic. Christian Bale was very different from anything I’ve seen from him, which I appreciated. Let’s be honest, I don’t watch TONS of Christian Bale movies, so it’s possible that he always plays a marked variety of characters. So maybe his acting prowess is already obvious, and I’m just restating. Either way, I loved him! I loved how perfectly New Jersey he was, how flamboyant and kind of gross he was but in a wonderful way. I was all about it! And I loved Amy Adams. I don’t see her often in serious and seriously big roles (she was also great in Her), and I loved her. I loved the way she seduced Bradley Cooper’s character Richie, I loved how convincingly English she was (and I am a stickler for well-developed dialects), and I loved that I was never sure whose side she was on until the very end. SPOILER ALERT SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW. Although she did announce her deception to Irving, I kept thinking that she might have changed her mind, and gone over to the dark side, and by that I mean the good guys. Watching her with Richie, I thought they were falling for each other. I thought she was in love. I thought she was confused, but in love, and trying to figure everything out. And when it came to pass that she wasn’t, I was shocked!
You know who else was great? Bradley Cooper. Let’s be real, he was playing a 1978 jerri curled version of himself, but he plays himself so well! He played that exact same character during Silver Linings Playbook, and I loved him then as well. Cooper just does a phenomenal job of channeling whatever strangeness he possesses, and throwing it into the character to make him quirky, hilarious, and very Bradley Cooper. I just enjoyed him. And I liked seeing the darker, rougher, willing-to-do-whatever-it-takes side of him (because he’s not playing anyone else). It was intriguing, and a little bit scary, but not actually scary because nothing about Bradley Cooper is actually scary. I loved him. And now I’ve said enough nice things to get to the part I really care about, which is talking about Jennifer Lawrence. Dear J-Law, if you’re reading this right now, please just know that the second I saw you in Winter’s Bone, I knew you were phenomenal, and I’ve been a fan from the beginning. I apologize readers for the digression- she’s just magic. And she’s magic AGAIN! Could this woman be any more versatile? I mean, really? I’ve seen her in The Hunger Games, being ruthless yet vulnerable Katniss Everdeen, and I’ve seen her in Winter’s Bone, being hard and scared all at the same time, and I’ve seen her in X-Men: First Class, being something she wasn’t and hiding her inner true feelings, and I’ve seen her in Silver Linings Playbook being cruel and crazy when she was really just hiding her sorrow and pain and shame, and…wait.
Okay so maybe there’s not a lot of variety, but here’s the thing. She makes them all FEEL so different, even though they’ve got essentially the same major things going on. Rosalyn is young and gorgeous, and hilarious, and again wildly New Jersey (in this very stereotypical way, I have great friends from jersey, nobody bash me in the comments please, I’m not judging). She’s manipulative, and overwhelming, and just absolutely too much and all over the place. But she’s also sweet, and hurting, and I love the “I told you so” moment at the end. Jennifer Lawrence is, without exception, marvelous. I just wanted her to be in more of the film.
I’ve said so many nice things still! So why didn’t I love the film. First, it was too long. I am a movie lover. I went and saw Jack Ryan the other day and had a great time. I love all movies. There are so very few movies I don’t like (war movies, sad space movies, and animal movies, clearly). But I got bored in the middle of American Hustle. I was on Facebook. That NEVER happens. I can’t tell you another time that happened. I loved the beginning, I loved the end, but the middle got long, and dense, and just not that interesting because I knew it was just more of the same drama and I was more interested in finding out how they were going to get out of trouble. There were too many plot twists, and not enough shots of Jeremy Renner and his amazing pompadour. (Yes, he’s in the film. Yes, he’s very New Jersey, being the Mayor. Yes, I liked him too. Yes, I’m running out of space in this already long review.) The film needed some major editing, and perhaps someone to watch the film with you and prod you when you start losing focus. Sometimes the film is about the con, sometimes it’s about Irving and Sydney struggling, sometimes it’s about Sydney seducing Richie, sometimes it’s about how crazy Rosalyn is, sometimes it’s about how scary the mob is, and how dangerous this is, and how dangerous and intense Richie is, and how much this means to everyone…it’s just got a lot happening.
So here’s the thing. The acting category noms are all justified. Everyone was great. The costumes were brilliant, hair and make-up was GLORIOUS, but as a whole, I didn’t love it the way I loved her, or Dallas Buyers Club. I officially rate the film 7/10, and still insist you go and see it. Because Jennifer Lawrence, people.
Live, Love, Learn,
Rebecca &