American Hustle (2013) Movie Review

AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

While I believe the movie defiently deserves to be nominated for an Oscar, how it got nominated for 10 of them, I have no idea.

A con man, Irving Rosenfield (Christian Bale) and his seductive British partner in crime Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) are forced to work with an off the rails FBI agent named Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). Because of this forced alliance, Richie forces the two into helping him prove that Mayor Carmon Palito (Jeremy Renner) is corrupt in his actions. With no choice, the three begin a new alliance to take down the Mayor of the corrupt city. For the most part, I really did enjoy the overbearing story that this film created. I felt that the biggest aspect that kept me intrigued in the story was the fact that it took place in a place corrupted by mafia and the underutilized drama that comes with it, which I really enjoyed seeing. While overall I did enjoy the plot as a whole, I felt that certain things in the story were sometimes forced and seemed a little too cliché or cheesy in my opinion. However, as a whole, I felt that the story was brilliant and kept me guessing till the very end, literally. 

Still of Christian Bale, Amy Adams
and Bradley Cooper

There are many aspects that this film had going for it, with one of them actually being the music. While I do not pay attention to scores much in movies, I will admit I more than pay attention to actual musical numbers in films. And this film had too many great songs to count. Ranging from Live and Let Die to Irving's montage music, this film easily holds one of 2013's best soundtracks, with the score from Man of Steel coming in right behind. Anyhow, another aspect of the film that is getting critical acclaim are the costumes, more precisely Christian Bale's wig. Seriously, throughout the entire movie he is basically trying to straighten it, which just added so much to his character's personality. Other apparels I thought were classy include Jeremy Renner and Bradley Cooper's various suits worn throughout the film. However, we can't talk clothing without mentioning the leading ladies in the film, even if half the time they weren't wearing anything. Anyhow, I felt that their dresses were incredibly classy and like Bale, it added so much to their characters as you can tell the struggles that are occurring through their trashy clothes. Lastly, the final and biggest thing that had this film receive and endless number of critic acclaim was the acting, which I shall discuss now. 

Still of Jeremy Renner as Mayor Carmon Palito

As for the acting, I felt it was extremely smart to market this film as a movie just filled with talent. I mean, when your main cast includes the likes of Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence, it's kind of hard not to hide that kind of acting talent from the audience. Anyhow, of course everyone does a spectacular job at their respective roles. Christian Bale just ceases to amaze me as every single role he is in, I think I have seen it all and then he just blows us away with his acting range, and his weight. I'm not positive on the exact numbers, but I know he put on alot of weight for this film and considering he was working on Out of the Furnace around the same time, that s dedication. Amy Adams I felt was one of the best in this film as she just showed such dominance and managed to stand her ground amongst the two leading men in the film, Bale and Cooper. Speaking of, Bradley Cooper while good in the movie, I felt that he was way better in the last David O. Russell he was in, which of course was the masterpiece known as Silver Linings Playbook. As for Jennifer Lawrence, what can I say that the internet hasn't already said? I mean, in 2012 barely anyone knew who she was until her role in The Hunger Games, and then it began. One day she got an Oscar and now she has grown so much as an actress. Oh and she was good in the movie. Lastly, I don't care what any critic says about his performance but I felt that the most underrated actor of this year is a tie between Jeremy Renner and Jake Gyllenhaal as each just brought so much personality and character to their respective roles, with Jake for Prisoners and obviously Jeremy for American Hustle. Without question, if I was on the judging panel for any award show, I would nominate Jeremy Renner for Best Supporting Actor. Yep, I though he was better than Bradley Cooper in this film. Anyhow, the acting as expected was phenomenal and continued to show the amazing talent that these people have.  

Still of Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner,
Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence

Overall, while I was a tiny bit disappointed with this film, I cannot blame the movie as I guess I overhyped myself to the bitter end. But that doesn't mean it's not a good film, because it's a great one at that. If you haven't seen this one yet, you simply must see it as considering it could take home 10 Oscars, that more than says something about its quality. 

OVERALL: 7.8/10