A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive British partner Sydney Prosser is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso. DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia.
David O Russell's brazen, nerve-jangling, irresistibly watchable black comedy.
Funny, sexy and stylish as hell, Russell’s Scorsese homage lacks the zip of Marty’s greatest work, but makes up for it with hilarious dialogue and a killer ensemble on top form.
You may not trust the facts in American Hustle but you can rely on it as one of this year’s most aggressively entertaining films.
A proper treat.
An extremely entertaining, brilliantly acted, highly diverting film which — like all hustles — delivers less than it promises. Still, it’s worth being taken for the ride.
Somewhat in keeping with its narrative’s spectacle of deception, the comedown of this sugar rush of a film might not reveal the most nutritious consumption, but sometimes the messiest concoctions have a better taste.
For fans of the cast and the era there is fun to be had. Just don’t expect something on a level with the director’s recent work.
Whether American Hustle has the legs to be an American classic remains to be seen but, right now, this is about as entertaining as cinema gets.
If this is ultimately a self-reflexive actors’ exercise rather than a tautly plotted drama, it’s certainly a bravura and very enjoyable one.
Perhaps its best trick is that it squeezes so much real human drama and astute psychology into a work that brims with glitz and dazzle and cinematic showmanship; hilarious disco-era fashion statements and great music.
It blends the wiseguy voiceover-nostalgia of Scorsese's Goodfellas with the cheeky imposture of George Roy Hill's The Sting. The headbutting dialogue also has something of David Mamet. But the neurotic, shrill and often very funny action is distinctively Russell-esque.
Like the eye-popping costumes and note-perfect decor, there's a sneaking sense that it's all for show; an elaborate comb-over covering an absence of "truth". While Silver Linings Playbook was all about the heart, this is ultimately all about the hair. But what hair!
Written by Russell and Eric Singer, and boasting a dizzying number of set-ups and reversals, it finds the director continuing his ongoing mission to rehabilitate played-out movie genres by infusing them with the exuberance and raw emotion of real life in all its magnificently messy glory.
Fun, charming, but slight and way too long and flabby in the girth for such slightness.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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