AMERICAN HUSTLE

American Hustle (2013), Columbia Pictures

With the Oscar Awards season only a week away at the time of writing this, I felt the need to watch some Academy Award nominee films from years past; one of which being the 2014 “Best Picture” nominee, American Hustle. And while by no means, after watching it, did I feel the film was “bad” in the general sense of the word, or otherwise lacking in talent, something about it didn’t rub me the right way. On the surface level, this film is excellent in acting talent and an engaging ride from beginning to end. But, there were three words that haunted me during my viewing, which might have spoiled my enjoyment a bit overall: “for your consideration.” And no, I don’t mean they bothered me because the copy I own is an actual film screener made for the Academy Awards, and that the words “for your consideration” would flash on screen inconveniently at random moments throughout the movie. I mean, the words bothered me because it reminded me what the film was made for. Make no mistake, this flick is “Oscar bait.” More on this in a bit, let’s go over the plot.

The story follows a con-artist couple Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser (played by Christian Bale and Amy Adams respectively), forced to pull off the riskiest job of their lives, as per the demand of a hot-headed FBI agent, Richie DiMaso (played by Bradley Cooper). DiMaso is hoping to uncover the largest political scandal in New Jersey. But, when his plan to do so involves placing a genuinely innocent man (Jeremy Renner) in jail, Rosenfeld is caught in a battle of morality, questioning which is worse: allowing an innocent man to go to jail, while he himself is going free and getting paid, or sacrificing his own freedom by revealing what really is going on?

As performances go, American Hustle has a lot to offer from nearly everyone in the cast. The love triangle chemistry between Adams, Bale, and Cooper is certainly fascinating to watch. And the supporting roles by Renner and Jennifer Lawrence (who plays Rosenfeld’s disgruntled wife) hold their own in creating memorable characters. The story and script were…okay. To elaborate, I thought the plot was intriguing, but, how it was presented was unpolished. Getting back to those three little words, American Hustle is not subtle in being an Oscar nominated film. In fact, it was fairly heavy-handed. Dialogue felt overdramatic and unnatural, and character motivations seemed to be muddled in wake of trying to get a good performance out of the actors. There were few moments of genuine silence in the script to allow for actions and feelings to fully sink in for the audience.

To compare this film to The Big Short (2015), another film of similar calibur and subject matter, American Hustle lacked a sort of “wink” or satire that the other embraced, while also taking itself seriously. In other words, this film took itself too seriously for the sake of getting a shot at an Academy Award. In no way did I hate or even really dislike this movie. I simply felt, after watching it, neither one way, nor the other. And middle ground doesn’t leave much of an impression on me.

Overall Rating: Alright, I Guess

Entertainment Value: Kept My Attention