Big wigs, big 70s detail, big running time, but is American Hustle the big success that the nominations suggest?
American Hustle is David O. Russell’s first cinematic outing since the runaway success of Silver Lining’s Playbook which scooped a host of awards last year and American Hustle‘s initial mentions in this current award’s season suggests it could be in the for the same sort of praise. It is also the second collaboration between Russell and Christian Bale, which sees Christian doing another physical metamorphosis as he did for The Fighter, which stand as one of his finest roles to date.
The story follows Irvine Rosenfield (Christian Bale), a husky, balding entrepreneur whose business ventures include dry cleaners and windows, which is supported by his activities as an art fraud, loan shark and conman. We watch as Irvine then falls for the equally as deceptive Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) and they become a haplessly in-love con team, with Adams’ character adopting a very sketchy British accent and claiming connections to the Bank of England in order to dupe down-and-outs into parting with their money in the search for more. Their relationship seems like a perfect match, if not for Irvine’s already toxic relationship with his young wife (Jennifer Lawrence) and their adopted son.
When Irvine and Sydney are caught in the con by highly strung FBI agent Richie Dimaso (Bradley Cooper), they are forced to into a sting operation to save themselves from imprisonment and soon find themselves far out of their depth and attempting to con political figures and mobsters.
The first thing to say about American Hustle is that at the very core are some fine performances, it’s clear that Bale has invested a lot in the preparation for this role and it pays off from the moment you see him sculpting his elaborate wig piece in the opening scene and the depth of the role doesn’t drop from there, his gate, the way he moves, how he struggles with his weight and the character’s insecurities are captivating throughout.
In terms of scene stealing performances however, Jennifer Laurence as his wife Roselyn is completely engrossing and there’s a real element of danger that has you gripping the seat every time she’s on screen, whether she is drinking like a fish, flirting with the mafia or setting fire to the kitchen.
All the actors clearly enjoy their roles and the period detail, the elaborate hair pieces and the comedic element means that everyone is able to crank their acting way up to eleven, without fear of looking out of place. It is interesting however that Jeremy Renner as the New Jersey Mayor with a heart of gold seems to be the performance with real weight due to his understated delivery and is a surprising stand out that sticks with you once the credits role.
Despite having a cast who are clearly willing the film in the right direction, it also has it’s issues. With a running time coming in at just under two hours and twenty minutes you can’t help but think that David O. Russell has been too protective over his ‘no cut’ scene approach. Back story that could have been cleared up in short sharp sections (see: Scorsese) become these long sprawling moments that seem to go on longer than is necessary. A good editor would have attacked this reel with garden sheers, to cut it down to a far more lean and direct piece of film.
Even with this extended scene approach, you can’t help but feel that Hustle missed the one scene it needed to seal it’s place in the cinema history. Robert De Niro’s short cameo as an aging mafia psychopath is welcome, but to have a scene in which both he and Bale are at the same table (the old master and the young pretender of method acting) and for them to not have any sort of extended dialog or interaction left a distinct feeling of disappointment. What you’re looking for is De Niro and Pacino in Heat, but instead it seems Russell shies away from the chance of a landmark moment.
Although you can look to films such as Goodfellas as obvious comparisons, the film that most comes to mind is Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo. In fact it almost would make sense to have a pair of David O. Russell/Ben Affleck double bills. The first being The Fighter & The Town as a look at the destruction of family relations in Boston’s Irish American community, followed up by American Hustle & Argo as two films dealing with deception in the midst of the volatile political climate of the 1970s. One of the main difference however between the two directors is that by the time Ben Affleck was behind the camera of Argo, he had learnt to reign things in.
Argo was also stylistically a beautiful period piece, but it was far tighter, the plot was clearer and as an audience you felt that you were somehow involved in the deception. Both films have a cloak and dagger element of people pretending to be someone else in sketchy operations, but Affleck made those lines clear whereas on a first viewing it’s easy to get completely lost in the web of lies of American Hustle and once you’ve lost your bearings on what is meant to be true, it’s a long while before you’ve caught up enough to be invested again.
Overall American Hustle‘s fine cast and mixture of comic relief and drama mean it has moments of brilliance, but these moments are weighed down by the sheer length of a movie that is in need of a more ruthless editor and a moment worth it’s weight in film reel, that failed to happen.
7/10
