In a recent interview with the Washington Post, former U.S. Senator Larry Pressler reminisced about the time he was targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation which targeted corrupt politicians during the late 1970s. Upon being offered $50,000 in exchange for using his influence to expedite citizenship for two (phony) Arab nationals, Sen. Pressler turned down the money, explaining that it would be improper for him to promise to do anything in exchange for a campaign contribution. As a result of his honesty, Pressler’s part in ABSCAM makes no appearance in American Hustle, director David O. Russell’s serio-comic take on the scandal. Pressler wasn’t surprised, commenting dryly, “Nobody cares about the story of a guy who did the right thing.”
If there’s one thing American Hustle absolutely is not, it's the story of people doing the right thing. Based very, very loosely on true events (Russell conveniently jettisons the burden of maintaining historical accuracy by starting his movie with a title card which reads "some of this actually happened"), American Hustle tells the story of Irving Rosenfeld and his mistress and protégé, Sydney Prosser, a pair of successful con artists coerced by FBI agent Richie DiMaso into helping plan and carry out sting operations on people dealing in stolen property.
To fulfill their end of the arrangement, Irving and Sydney set up shop as the representatives of a phony Arab Sheikh looking to purchase pilfered artwork. However, when one of Irving's associates suggests that New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito might like to meet the Sheikh in order to exchange favors for foreign investment in his state's planned casinos, Agent DiMaso seizes on the career-making opportunity to bag some political bigwigs. It isn't long before Irving and Sydney, whose philosophy has always been to keep their schemes small and manageable, become increasingly uncomfortable with the situation, especially once the sting draws in not only several U. S. senators and the Mafia, but also Irving’s wife, Rosalyn, whose mental instability threatens to bring the entire operation crashing down.
The plot is all window dressing though, as American Hustle is a movie about characters, or to be more specific, performances. This film has one of those scripts actors salivate over – full of conflicted, broken people placed in morally ambiguous situations with no easy way out. And just to weed out lesser talents, much of the movie is also darkly comedic, meaning the actors have to believably segue between moments of levity and high drama. It's hard to imagine any actor getting the script to American Hustle and not thinking to themselves, at least for a moment, "I've got a shot at an Academy Award with this one!"
Guaranteed an Oscar nod is Christian Bale as Irving Rosenfeld. When we first meet Irving, he is standing in front of a mirror, performing the long morning ritual of constructing his comb-over – a Byzantine affair composed partially of toupées and partially of meticulously placed strands of real hair, all held together by copious amounts of glue, hairspray, and sheer willpower. It’s one of those scenes which tells us so much about the character without any words ever being spoken. He's a phony, but a careful, well-crafted one. He's insecure and uncomfortable about revealing his real self, but also completely confident in his ability to put forth a false front. He's a crook, but a human one. We shouldn't like him, but we kind of do.
Bale goes all in on the performance, not only physically transforming his body to play the overweight, middle-aged con man, but also developing slouched postures and furtive expressions so individualistic that he completely becomes the character. His Irving is so real that not even once will you stop and say to yourself, "Hey, wait a minute – that's Batman!" No mean accomplishment in a movie which also stars Lois Lane, Katniss, Hawkeye, and Rocket Raccoon.
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Speaking of his co-stars, they're all uniformly excellent. Bradley Cooper finally lays to rest the notion that he's nothing but that jackass character from the Hangover movies. Following on the heels of his success with Silver Linings Playbook (also directed by Russell), his performance as the self-serving FBI agent in American Hustle proves he's just as adept at playing an outstanding jackass in much better films. Jeremy Renner is great as the well-meaning, but ill-advised Mayor of Camden, New Jersey. Unfortunately, in a movie overflowing with marquee names, his performance is likely to go mostly unappreciated. And rounding out the men, Louis C. K. shows up in a small, but rather nice role as Cooper's much put-upon superior at the agency.
But it's the ladies who really shine nearly as bright as Bale. Amy Adams is likely to get a little Oscar buzz with her turn as Irving's soul-mate Sydney, the only person with whom he is completely honest with throughout the whole movie. She's also the only person capable of scamming Irving, and Adams plays the dichotomy deftly, with the audience never knowing until the very end just where her loyalties lie.
Joining her in the Oscar pool will be Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Irving's wife, Rosalyn. Besides Irving, Rosalyn is probably the most complex character in the film – the queen mother of all passive-aggressive manipulators who never makes a single movement or expression unless it's to get something she wants. She has no real love for Irving but needs him to survive, and so she mercilessly uses her young son, whom Irving truly does love, to keep him trapped in the relationship. On top of all that, she's possibly insane, prone to crazed outbursts. I usually don't enjoy those moments in non-musical movies when a character spontaneously erupts into song, but Lawrence makes it work, and it's one of the moments in the film which will likely garner her yet another nomination.
Now I haven't quite seen all of this year's potential Oscar fodder, but it's unlikely there's another film out there with so many likely (and deservedly so) acting nominees crammed together in one place. Everyone in American Hustle is good, with Bale in particular giving the performance of his career. It's tempting to follow Sen. Pressler's lead and bemoan the fact that the characters being portrayed aren't better people, but then I stop and think about the Bible. Barring a couple of notable exceptions, it's not exactly overflowing with stories about perfect people. The chronicles of King David's family alone are full of murder, incest, murder, rape, treason, and murder. And yet as we read about all these bumblers, so very much like ourselves, we can see God's grace at work and recognize the possibility for redemption.
And to some degree, we get that in American Hustle as well. As events spiral out of Irving's control and doom seems unavoidable, there is the smallest chance he can make it out okay on the other side and go clean. Not unscathed, of course – you don't do what Irving does for a living and not suffer some consequences. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel if he can get there – if only Agent DiMaso will let him go free once the deal is done; if only Sydney is really on his side and not running a scam of her own; if only Rosalyn doesn't flip out at the wrong moment and get everyone killed. How does it all turn out? Well, you'll just have to watch it to find out. And if for nothing but the performances alone, American Hustle is definitely worth watching.
And today we celebrate...