Review: American Hustle

-
You're nothing to me until you're everything.
 
"Some of this actually happened." Those are the words that greet us on screen when this film starts. The film follows Irving Rosenfeld, (Christian Bale) a con man who has been running business smoothly with his mysterious lover Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) until they accept a bribe from an undercover FBI agent named Richie DiMaso.(Bradley Cooper) He is very energetic and has high hopes for these two. He wants to use them to con some politicians, their first target is Mayor Carmine Polito, (Jeremy Renner) a really good guy that's caught in a bad place. DiMaso is not that stable, that we get just from his interactions with his boss (Louis C.K) He starts falling for Sydney, only she's "Edith" a British Lady with connections in London. Then there's Irvings spaztastic wife, Rosalyn. (Jennifer Lawrence) Calling her a "loose canon" is the biggest understatement of the year.
 
God, this cast. I loved this cast. They were fantastic across the board, the biggest stand out for me was Amy Adams. Her character is utterly fascinating. We never really know who we're seeing. She's Sydney to Irving, she's Edith to everyone else. She's unpredictable and we never quite know what's going on in her head. Adams fearlessly plays her. Christian Bale is hilarious, he's one of the best actors out there, but comedy is not something we see from him. Just the looks his gives his wife in this film are priceless. And Lawrence and Cooper are oh so crazy. I can see why director David O'Russell used them again. My other favorite performance has to be Louis C.K as Stoddard Thorson. He's so subtle and such a push over, if you've seen Louie or any of his stand up, you know that's the exact opposite of how he is in real life. So seeing Cooper bully him around was even funnier to me. The Boardwalk Empire fangirl in me went crazy over bit roles played by Jack Huston (complete with Harrow mustache, sans Harrow drawl) and Shea Wigham (in the worst wig ever)
 
When I first saw the trailers, I didn't view this as a comedy at all. After watching it, I think that's what it is through and through. They were right to categorize it as such. It's fast paced and interesting and the score fits perfectly. I think this might actually be my favorite O'Russell film to date.
 
Recommended: Yes
 
Grade: A+
 
Memorable Quote: "We fight, we fuck. That's what we do." - Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence)
 


Comments

  1. SDGDecember 28, 2013 at 9:30 AM

    Great to hear you loved Amy Adams! Can't wait for this one. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Candice FrederickDecember 28, 2013 at 11:32 AM

    i wish i could have loved it, but it was a bit too all over the place for me. but i thought it was quite entertaining. the acting was pretty good, especially bradley cooper who i thought stole every scene. i thought amy didn't have the firmest grasp on either personality she portrayed but she did an admirable job. it's wildly entertaining and hilarious but i thought it could have had more substance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 29, 2013 at 1:55 PM

      Cooper was definitely on his A game. I'm sorry Adams didn't do more for you! I loved her.

      Delete
  3. Dan O.December 28, 2013 at 2:04 PM

    Good review Brittani. This movie was such a blast to watch, especially since almost anyone and everyone involved was on their A-game. Especially Cooper and Lawrence, who somehow always brought the movie's energy up with whatever it was that they did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 29, 2013 at 1:54 PM

      Definitely! Cooper's character really was kind of bat shit crazy.

      Delete
  4. s.December 29, 2013 at 10:35 AM

    Awesome review, I really cannot wait to see this one. I saw the clip of Lawrence destroying science oven and Bale's saddened and confused reaction was hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 29, 2013 at 1:53 PM

      That's pretty much how their entire relationship is. She messes up, he stares in bewilderment. I loved it.

      Delete
  5. momof3feistykidsDecember 30, 2013 at 12:40 PM

    Great review, Brittani. This *is* a great cast. I need to check this one out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ElinaJanuary 3, 2014 at 6:17 AM

    I am so happy you loved it after the crappy reviews I've read lately! My excitement to see it is back. Mmm. Great review, Brittani!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJanuary 3, 2014 at 7:41 AM

      Yay! I'm glad. I didn't think it was crappy at all.

      Delete
  7. JoshJanuary 4, 2014 at 8:38 PM

    I liked it, but I thought it was a little messy. Still, the cast is great. Cooper stole the show for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJanuary 4, 2014 at 8:43 PM

      It was definitely messy, I was just having too much fun to care. That happens to me occasionally.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more