Posted on 12/26/2013 4:22:41 PM PST by LS
Every once in a while Hollywood produces a film that is not only well acted but extremely well written. "American Hustle," loosely based on the Abscam sting operation of the 1970s, will certainly be in the running for best picture.
Christian Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld, again based loosely on con man Melvin Weinberg, who pretends to be a front for a "sheik" (played by Michael Pena---a Hispanic playing an Arab itself is a source of some good lines) to entrap congressmen and other public officials including "Mayor Polito," a friend of Rosenfeld's again based somewhat on Camden mayor Angelo Erricheti.
The cast not only is extremely strong, featuring the morphling Bale (who goes from muscular Batman to the crackhead brother in "The Fighter" to the paunchy, balding Rosenfeld), but versatile Amy Adams (who gets better in every picture), hunk Brad Cooper (sufficiently de-hunkized with a curley-cue hair job) and the talented (and yes, hot) Jennifer Lawrence. At one point or another in the movie, each of the four is paired one-on-one with the other and they handle the scenes masterfully. Mayor Polito is played by ("Hawkeye" in the Avengers) Jeremy Renner in another solid performance. But Bale carries the show, with Lawrence a strong second.
This is a scam movie---who'se zommin' who---in the tradition of "The Sting," although the climax isn't as dramatic. But, more than "The Sting," "American Hustle" looks at the erosion of dignity and humanity brought about by the simplest of lies. Ultimately, it shows us that regardless of how adept one is at lying, it exacts a cost on the soul.
There is unrelenting foul language (apparently a trademark of screenwriters these days) but no obvious sex and surprisingly little violence. After watching (to my regret) "The Fast and the Furious Six" the other night, in which the car chases and explosions were unrelenting, it was good to watch quality screenwriting in action. In the end, the moral is you can't con a con man.
The former, the latter, or bunches of both?
It hurts my heart to hear the Lord’s name taken in vain
All of the above.
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