Movie Review: "American Hustle"

"American Hustle": B+.  American Hustle is a slick, entertaining, humorous but imperfect film which brings together several of the rising stars in moviedom.  Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a shyster who makes his unlawful living deceiving would-be yet uncreditworthy borrowers into thinking that, for a five thousand dollar non-refundable fee, he can secure six-figure loans for them.  Unbeknownst to his victims, he has no actual funding source.  When that shady business isn't enough to keep him busy, he operates a gallery which passes off forgeries as masterpieces.

Irving is married to Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), but when he meets glamorous Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) at a party, he pegs her as a fellow wheeler-dealer who can help him with his shady pseudo-lending operations.  Early in the film, Irving and Sydney get busted by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) who's working undercover.  DiMaso is willing to cut a deal with the two if they'll help him nail high profile figures in a mega bribery and corruption scheme. Setting up and executing DiMaso's plan require huge outlays of money for purposes such as use of a private jet, wire transfers and renting an entire floor of a luxury hotel in Manhattan.  The scenes in which DiMaso begs his boss for that money are some of the funny bits in the story.

One of those high profile people targeted by DiMaso and company is the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, Carmine Polito, played with a puffy pompadour by Jeremy Renner.  Renner is extraordinary at putting on that innocent look while attempting to resist the temptation of ill-gotten gains.  Is he in it for his own personal fortune, or does he have the interests of his down-trodden city at heart?  The story arc here is complicated, which makes gauging the mayor's motives even tougher.  Polito conveys the doe-eyed choir boy countenance throughout.

It's hard to believe that Jennifer Lawrence is the same young actress who played Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games movies.  Her character in American Hustle, Rosalyn, requires her to be part dumb blonde and part savvy and sophisticated moll.  In one scene she is in a face-to-face shouting match with her husband, in another she is sitting on a bar stool making the tough guy hoodlums drool.  She is a devoted mother but not immune from hanky panky.  The one constant is that Rosalyn is unpredictable, and therefore not someone to whom you'd entrust a secret plan. 

American Hustle is purportedly based on the famous late-seventies Abscam scandal.  But this is no documentary; far from it.  We are tipped off in the opening credits that the filmmakers have taken great liberties with historical accuracy, as the movie begins with the disclaimer, "Some things portrayed in this film actually happened" (my emphasis), or words to that effect.  The opening scene spends several minutes showing Rosenfeld rearranging and gluing his combover.  He wants it to look just right with his polyester suit.  The point is that we are chuckling before the action starts.  There are several times in the early stages of the story when we witness business owners somehow believing that Rosenfeld and Prosser can score them a big loan, even though Rosenfeld looks slimy and incapable of having the wherewithal to come up with the dough he promises, and Prosser dresses like an expensive call girl.

Don't make the mistake of taking things too seriously.  Sure, there's the issue of government entrapment (which, if proven, would enable the crooked politicians to have the cases against them dismissed), but this is mostly comedy. It's all in good fun, plus, there's a neat twist at the end.