American Hustle review: How to hustle Oscars

Showered with stellar reviews and ten Oscar nominations on its release, American Hustle certainly looked like a contender for the best film of 2013 with its big budget and all star cast. But A-list actors and high production values don’t always produce a classic film, and it’s unfortunate that this is a perfect case in point. It’s by no means a poor movie, but American Hustle might just take home the award for the most overrated film of the year.

In a story loosely based on true events, Christian Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld, a brilliant and successful conman who works with his partner in crime Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) to scam desperate business owners. Of course, it’s not long before they’re caught red-handed by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), who threatens to jail them unless they can provide the evidence necessary to arrest four corrupt congressmen through a con of epic proportions involving the Mayor of New Jersey. It’s a plot of a suitably massive size for your average $40 million Hollywood blockbuster, and the scriptwriters make no secret of their ambition to tell a story full of twists and turns with a running time just short of two and a half hours. However, lofty ambitions are brought crashing down to earth by some truly dreadful editing; a vast number of throwaway scenes and an overstretched script result in the film loosing much of its coherency and even becoming dull. You can’t help thinking that in accruing an Oscar nomination for this shocking performance the editors are the real conmen here.

Despite poor and inconsistent editing turning the tale into a sloppy and confusing affair, American Hustle is by no means without merit. The acting performances are, on the whole, superb; Bale brings a humorously sleazy streak to Irving’s character and Cooper is excellent as the unhinged and unstable Richie. Jennifer Lawrence also provides a scene stealing flair as Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn, although her screen time is unfortunately limited. The overlong running time brings some benefit too in allowing the actors time to develop on screen, giving intense insights to the inter-character relationships. There are some great performances on the part of the minor characters too, with Robert DeNiro giving his iconic grizzly showing as mobster Victor Tellegio. Aiding the character development is the script, which despite its length and wealth of throwaway material is occasionally fantastic, allowing these top notch actors to achieve their full on-screen potential with some killer lines and darkly funny dialogue.

And you can’t accuse the movie of lacking style either; American Hustle wears its 1970’s setting like a badge of honour with classic costumes and hairstyles counterpointed by a vibrant soundtrack featuring musicians as varied as David Bowie, Elton John and The Electric Light Orchestra. These details create a fantastic sense of place, but the overdrawn plot and script prevent the movie from being truly atmospheric.

American Hustle is a film set in high ambitions, and in its acting and sense of style it more than achieves them. However, abysmal (and Oscar nominated) editing mar the impact of the whole picture, allowing the story to become difficult to follow and damaging the authenticity of the direction and atmosphere. It might aim high, but American Hustle falls dangerously short in many aspects, forcing you to wonder where those ten Oscar nominations came from.

6/10

(Credit to my pal Jed for the review title)