American Hustle. (15.)
Directed by David O. Russell.
Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, James Renner, Jennifer Lawrence and Louis CK. 138 mins.
The opening scene is Christian Bale in a hotel room with his shirt undone and a substantial belly protruding over his belt. No sooner have you taken in the stomach then your attention is directed to his hair, an elaborate interlocking comb over/ wig construction, which he is carefully attending to. The echoes of Raging Bull are surely intentional; with this film director O. Russell is putting down his marker, staking his claim for admission to the top ranks of Hollywood directors. His star isn’t just doing a De Niro, he’s doing a De Niro with a comb over; it isn’t just a Hustle, it’s American Hustle.
Scorsese is the target but the specific template is Goodfellas and this 70s conman drama offers a fair approximation of its confident, unstoppable sweep. It has the same restless energy, the multiple voiceovers, all set to a thumping period soundtrack. It picks you up at the beginning and whisks you through its humour filled twists and turns before dropping you off at the other end of its 138 minutes feeling fulsomely entertained.
Bale and Adams are con artists caught by ambitious and excitable FBI man Cooper and offered a deal: go to prison or help in an ambitious sting operation designed to trap various corrupt politician taking bribes. Once started though the operation expands dramatically, drawing in Senators, Congressmen and mafia dons. It’s based on a true story and Eric Singer’s original script, “American Bull****” was apparently a more factual account of the Abscam operation. D.O.R’s rewrite has fictionalised it, turned the characters into caricatures and put greater emphasis on the comedy. The story centres on a love triangle between, in alphabetical order, Adams, Bale and Cooper.
The acting is top notch (Bale and Adams are particularly good) but every performance is a turn; everybody is doing a bit of business, from Bale’s hair and belly to Adams’s laterally exposed cleavage, out there and loving it in a series of braless, slit to the waist outfits. It’s a well-choreographed firework display, and everybody gets to go off in sequence, but not a work of substance. Ultimately the plot boils down to the standard conman tease of who is playing who and who is getting played. The Goodfellas affectation is a classic piece of misdirection: the package feels weighty but when you open it up all you have inside is The Sting.
Directed by David O. Russell.
Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, James Renner, Jennifer Lawrence and Louis CK. 138 mins.
The opening scene is Christian Bale in a hotel room with his shirt undone and a substantial belly protruding over his belt. No sooner have you taken in the stomach then your attention is directed to his hair, an elaborate interlocking comb over/ wig construction, which he is carefully attending to. The echoes of Raging Bull are surely intentional; with this film director O. Russell is putting down his marker, staking his claim for admission to the top ranks of Hollywood directors. His star isn’t just doing a De Niro, he’s doing a De Niro with a comb over; it isn’t just a Hustle, it’s American Hustle.
Scorsese is the target but the specific template is Goodfellas and this 70s conman drama offers a fair approximation of its confident, unstoppable sweep. It has the same restless energy, the multiple voiceovers, all set to a thumping period soundtrack. It picks you up at the beginning and whisks you through its humour filled twists and turns before dropping you off at the other end of its 138 minutes feeling fulsomely entertained.
Bale and Adams are con artists caught by ambitious and excitable FBI man Cooper and offered a deal: go to prison or help in an ambitious sting operation designed to trap various corrupt politician taking bribes. Once started though the operation expands dramatically, drawing in Senators, Congressmen and mafia dons. It’s based on a true story and Eric Singer’s original script, “American Bull****” was apparently a more factual account of the Abscam operation. D.O.R’s rewrite has fictionalised it, turned the characters into caricatures and put greater emphasis on the comedy. The story centres on a love triangle between, in alphabetical order, Adams, Bale and Cooper.
The acting is top notch (Bale and Adams are particularly good) but every performance is a turn; everybody is doing a bit of business, from Bale’s hair and belly to Adams’s laterally exposed cleavage, out there and loving it in a series of braless, slit to the waist outfits. It’s a well-choreographed firework display, and everybody gets to go off in sequence, but not a work of substance. Ultimately the plot boils down to the standard conman tease of who is playing who and who is getting played. The Goodfellas affectation is a classic piece of misdirection: the package feels weighty but when you open it up all you have inside is The Sting.
