Review: American Hustle

The chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper was cemented in our minds after David O’Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook and the thought of all three working on the same project again brought a certain kind of anticipation. However, in American Hustle, a love letter to Martin Scorcese and Paul Thomas Anderson’s work that’s less than poetic - the pair’s equally corruptible lives barely intertwine. The film has a certain surface sheen to it –even if its plot is not completely uncovered and its character development rushed, everything looks great. Despite being nearly two and a half hours, we’re nowhere close to figuring out the bigger picture and perhaps that’s the point in a movie that deals with backdoor deals and government scandals – only a small amount of knowledge is imparted to us about these events in real life. Whilst the deals are the biggest part of the film, the love triangle centring on Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) and Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Jennifer Lawrence) is the real draw.

With captivating and impressive performances from all three, Bale and Adams look mild and meek once Lawrence struts onto the screen. Adams’ character Sydney, Irving’s lover, spends most of the film keeping up appearances and trying to make her fake identity as Lady Edith convincing with the distraction of an impressive amount of sideboob. Rosalyn, Irving’s wife, however is the exact opposite of Sydney, a nail polish enthusiast who’s an accidental pyromaniac and the life of the party. Undoubtedly the star performance, Lawrence puts every inch of her personality into the role. A particularly great moment is Rosalyn drunkenly scrubbing at her counters furiously whilst doing a passionate rendition of Live and Let Die.

But her honesty and tendency to pry in situations that don’t add up make her the potential downfall of all of Sydney and Irving’s schemes. Having already been caught preying on unfortunate souls by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), he makes a  deal that will let them get off free but not before dragging them deeper into their own lies first. Cooper has already played the good authoritative figure gone corrupt in last year’s The Place Beyond The Pines and in both instances; it doesn’t work out so well for his character. Unaware to the depth to which Irving and Sydney (known to him primarily as Lady Edith)’s lies extend, DiMaso is helplessly sucked into their whirlpool of scams and trickery and doesn’t even realise the joke’s on him.

Something that is common throughout American Hustle is the naivety of the majority of its characters. Whether it is for love or money, the charm that oozes out of the pores of these people has a hold on them and they find themselves getting into a lot more trouble than expected. Charm and surface detail dominate the film - the elaborate outfits, coiffed hair and dazzling personalities put in the place of a substantial plotline. There are some captivating scenes within the film but they’re positioned next to needlessly long stretches of dialogue that could have done with a touch of editing. American Hustle may have all the gloss and appearances for award nominations in Oscar season, including an extremely brief cameo from Robert DeNiro, but it feels as if it’s striving for that exact goal too much and cutting corners in what could have been a much more developed film.

Aurora Mitchell