American Hustle 2013
There was a lot of buzz about this movie, so I was hoping for the best, maybe a little too much. The movie sets the mood in the opening scene as a very pudgy Christian Bale struggles to put together one of the most elaborate comb-overs of all time. It is funny, a little bit gross, and kind of pathetic. This isn’t a movie with a lot of characters you are supposed to like. And it suffers from being sort of a political movie, which are so hard to do right. The characters are still good, the performances are very sharp, and the plot stays interesting. So this is certainly a good movie. The caper aspect and the casino glitz reminded me a little bit of Ocean’s Eleven, so I went back to see how many Oscars that movie was nominated for in 2001. None. American Hustle this week was nominated for 10. Seems a little off to me. Both are good movies, but I don’t understand the overwhelming affection for Hustle. While Amy Adams is good as a somewhat weathered grifter, Jennifer Lawrence is just too young and fresh to play the tired old wife she portrays, though it is still a fun character. Even the eponymous hustle in the movie is a little bit of a letdown. I’ll give this a B+.
Written: 17 Jan 2014
Owned on: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital