Movie review: Scam of the swindlers

American Hustle will bring the world crashing down with its stunning scandals.

American Hustle is a ’70s crime romp full of vigour, mirth and edge about the middle class American swindlers adamant to make it big. David Owen Russell’s wild take on the American dream rekindles the disco era with a zesty fun approach of an FBI operation.

‘‘Some of this actually happened,” appears as the screen opens for the movie; a slightly fictionalised version of the Abscam (short for Abdul scam) which occurred in America in the late 1970s. The movie has many tempting offers like smart backtalk, overripe comedy about corruption, duplicity, loyalty, and love. The director, Russell, who was nominated in the recent past for an Oscar for The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, is a serious contender again for this humorous crime drama.

Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) has a chain of dry cleaning businesses, sells forged art and runs a loan fraud operation when he meets the beautiful Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) at a pool party. Their criminal minds click instantly with Sydney taking a new identity as a British aristocrat to lure more people into their scams. She knows Irving has a younger wife Rosalind (Jennifer Lawrence) but they almost immediately come on to each other. Quickly though, they are tripped up by an over-enthusiastic FBI agent, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), who realises they can help him bust a corruption case involving city mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), several congressmen, a senator and mob boss Victor Tellegio (Robert De Niro). Using a fake Arab sheikh to pose as an investor, the FBI entraps the politicians with the help of Irving and Sydney.

Lawrence steals the show with her over-the-top portrayal of a ‘dumb-blonde’, but extremely clever housewife. Her liking for nail polish that mixes the aroma of flowers and garbage reflects her character very well. Adams is daring and relentless as she does everything to get away from her past. She is both, devious and sophisticated, depending on the situation. Bale, who starved himself for The Fighter, now puts on 40 pounds for his middle-age slob role. With a bulging belly, he glues and combs his thinning hair and dresses in trendy clothes hoping to be a young center of attention. Cooper is fiercely energetic, funny and furious as an FBI agent but, as a male, he is weak and tamed by Adams. Love, hate, jealousy and lust between these characters soon come in the way of their professional work.

The movie will remind you of classics such as Married to the Mob, Goodfellas and Prizzi’s Honor, but it has a volatility of its own. It is a must-see if you want to enjoy a dramatic storm of romance, tension and humour with a twisted ending, bearing in mind that the story takes long to unfold.

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Hassan Majeed is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at the Long Island Medical Center, New York. He tweets @HassanMajeedMD 

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, February 2^nd, 2014.