The Ol' Bait And Switch

American Hustle (2013)

This year we as moviegoers have seen a few films based on true events. Some that is heartwarming and thought provoking, such as The Butler or Philomena. Then there were others that really made you question how much of the story is true, like Pain & Gain. One film that is with the likes of Pain & Gain is American Hustle.

The film is about a con man, Irving Rosenfeld, who meets and falls in love with Sydney Prosser who happens to be a stripper. Rosenfeld explains to Prosser what he really does because he believes that he can tell her the truth about anything. After Irving and Sydney team up, the money starts to roll in very nicely. That is until they are busted by an over achieving FBI agent, Richard "Richie" DiMaso. To make sure Irving and Sydney do not spend any time in jail, they make a deal with DiMaso to take down four other white-collar criminals. Yet, that does not turn out to be the case.

This film was all about the actors and the amazing job they all did. I usually would like to single out one or two of the actors, but all of them did great. The cast includes Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence.  If you are like me and love to see a cast come together so marvelously, then you would enjoy this film. I followed the plot along just fine, but I would catch myself just staring at these actors in awe. This is why I chose not to single anyone of this cast out. Superb!

David O. Russell directs this con-film and is equally amazing as his cast. He not only achieved greatness from his cast, we submerse you into this era. It is set in the late 70s and everything from the music to the costumes just takes you back to this time. Russell, along with Eric Warren Singer, wrote a great screenplay. The characters in this film are not cartoonish or unbelievable. Yes, it was based on true events, but very loosely based and still kept the believability of these characters.

Though the writing was awesome, the story was very easy to follow. Why that is not a bad thing is because this film was about the acting. I cannot remember another film that had such amazing performances from all its cast. If for nothing else, I recommend this film to see these great actors do what they do best. I will be very surprised if one of these actors doesn’t walk away with an Oscar this year.

The Verdict: See it in Theaters