January I, 2014
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Jennifer Lawrence (left) stars as Rosalyn Rosenfeld, and Amy Adams as Sydney Prosser in American Hustle.
Exactly Right
O pinionated
J udge
‘American Hustle’ delivers on laughs, characters and fashions
by
D arleen O rtega
ways watchable, but his last two de destined for my list of the best films of including themselves.
Director David O. Russell has, in railed a bit; "The Fighter" set up a very 2013.
No one understands this better than
previous films, shown a talent for cap perceptive story about persistent and
The story is built out of the elements of Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale, pack
turing scenes o f interpersonal chaos; he destructive family dynamics and then "Abscam," a famously outlandish FBI
ing an additional 50 pounds for the role).
clearly finds people endlessly fascinat solved them too easily, and "Silver Lin sting operation from the 1970s, in which
As portrayed here, Irving is a successful
ing and knows how to capture explo ings Playbook" exploited its insights about a small-time con man helped the feds
con man because he has made a study of
sions of a kind more com monly experi mental illness by devolving into a roman take down a cadre of corrupt politicians
dissembling and can see it happening all
enced than those you'd see in a typical tic story that suggested that crazy can be with an elaborate scheme involving a
around him. He works every angle with
war or violent crime movie.
downright cute.
fake Arab sheik.
the care and confidence of a profes
It is, to my mind, a problematic gift; the
Finally, though, Russell has found ex
"Some of this actually happened," the sional, and he understands the impor
opportunity to watch someone display actly the right balance. "A m erican film asserts early on - but Russell and
tance of noticing what people want to
mad acting skills may not feel like enough Hustle" is a positively rollicking blend of his co-writer are not aiming for a strictly
believe, and of keeping his operation
reason to subject audiences to family comedy, outrageous characters and fash historical account. For them, the guts of
small.
dysfunction or mental illness, especially ions, an entertaining sort-of-true crime that story serve as a vehicle for explor
Irving has achieved modest success
for those of us whose families already story, and some very astute observa ing the idea of the con as a ubiquitous
with this method, assisted by his girl-
give us access to more than we can tions about what motivates human be aspect of American society. In this story,
tolerate for free. Russell's films are al havior and about American society. It's everyone is scamming everyone else,
continued
on page 16