A synopsis and summary of the recent hit movie.
This movie has not lacked hype due to the star studded cast and overwhelming positive reaction from movie critics. It is definitely an excellent, fun, and witty film. While I definitely like and enjoy the movie, it did not live up to my impossible expectations due to the anticipation. The strength of the movie is the great cast that includes Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Jennifer Lawrence. Robert Deniro also makes an appearance as an enforcer for the mob. They are all stars and deliver fine performances. The dialogue is top notch and the relationships between the main characters are extremely intriguing. Bale really drives the film with his brilliant performance as expert con man, Irving Rosenfeld. The story revolves around Rosenfeld and his partner in crime and mistress, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) as highly successful scammers. They primarily con desperate individuals that pay a $5,000 fee for an empty promise that they will secure their loans for their marks from their imaginary contacts in London. Irving and Sydney also sell stolen or forged art. Eventually, they are caught taking money from an undercover FBI agent, Richie Dimaso (Bradley Cooper). However, Richie does not want to put them in prison. As Irving and Syndey are master con artists, Richie wants to use their talents to help catch other criminals. The movie is loosely based on “Abscam”, which was a FBI operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The FBI hired a convicted con artist to help them bring down corrupt politicians. Agents posed as a fictional sheikh and videotaped politicians accepting bribes from the sheikh in exchange for political favors.
Richie’s original deal for Irving and Sydney is for them to help entrap four other crooks in exchange for immunity. However, the targets have connections to politicians. The politicians ultimately lead them to the mob. While Irving wants to keep the operation small and low profiled, Richie is overzealous and ambitious as he wants to make a name for himself at the FBI. Irving is reluctant to go after politicians and terrified about going after the mob. However, Richie has Irving in a bind and ignores his warnings and objections. As a result, Irving gets in deeper and deeper. It becomes a very complicated plot and is difficult to follow all of it during the movie. However, the ending wraps everything up nicely to make sense of all the chaos. Caught in the middle of a complicated web with politicians, mobsters, and federal authorities; Irving has to decide which group he is able and willing to cross. As such, we get to see how great of a mastermind he really is as he needs to get Sydney and him out of the conundrum. Moreover, he has to deal with his complicated personal life that involves Sydney, his mistress that he actually loves, and his unpredictable wife Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Jennifer Lawrence), who he feels obligated to stay with as he loves her son who he adopted as part of their marriage. The film does well as a comedic drama. It is serious enough where it does not become goofy but the overall tone is light and fun. I also love how the movie brings us into the mind of a scammer. Con artists are successful because people believe in what they want to believe. As a result, they are able to use that perception against the victims they prey on. Nothing in the real world is black or white. In line with that fact, there are no obvious heroes or villains in the movie. Every character is in a grey area which makes this film unique. You decide for yourself whether each character is a hero or villain.
Christian Bale is great as the lead character, Irving, in the movie. He is an overweight, bald man with an ugly comb over that requires an additional wig glued to the top of his head. The beginning of the film has a hilarious scene where he hides his gut and puts his hair together. Of course, there is extra humor in the scene for me since Bale has recently played the ripped Bruce Wayne/ Batman. Whatever Irving lacks in physical appeal, he makes up with charm and presence. Bale definitely has some of the best lines in the movie that caused me to burst out laughing during the movie. Irving’s charisma draws the beautiful Sydney Prosser into his circles. They are attracted to each other and have an affair. Irving respects her for her intelligence and he trusts her. As such, he tells her about his illegal scams as he wants her to join him in hustling desperate scumbags for their money. Initially, she is taken aback, shocked, and walks right out of his office. In one of the funniest lines in the movie, Irving states her negative reaction is exactly why “you never tell a woman the truth”. Of course, Sydney immediately changes her mind. She walks into his office and starts speaking in a fake British accent to create her alter ego, Edith Greensley. With her beauty and smarts, Irving and Sydney are extremely successful in expanding Irving’s business. As Irving is married, the two carry on with their affair in private. While they definitely love each other, Irving cannot leave his wife because he loves her son. Eventually, the other woman will demand the man to leave his wife. Accordingly, Sydney’s insistence for Irving to fully commit to her adds a lot of issues in their personal and working relationship.
Next, FBI agent Richie DiMaso catches Sydney for faking an identity to scam money. However, he offers Irving and her immunity if they help him in his plot to bring down other criminals. Bradley Cooper is very good as the overly ambitious FBI agent. Richie is a low level agent that lives with his mother. As a result, he wants to make his mark so he can get the respect and accolades he thinks he deserves. He believes it is beneath him to just settle. Consequently, he is very aggressive with his methods. Besides enlisting the expertise of successful con artists, he has no problem going over the head of his boss, Stoddard Thorsen (Louis C.K.), to his boss’s boss to get support for his plans. Accordingly, Richie is a person who does the right thing for the wrong reason, his ego. Obviously, he is not a villain. However, I do not consider him a true hero either. Richie’s relationship with Irving is excellent. First, I really enjoy when Irving teaches Richie about scams. Specifically, I really like a scene when they are in an art gallery and Irving points out that one of the paintings is a fake. Richie is in disbelief as the piece must have been certified and authenticated. However, Irving points out that people will believe in what they want to believe in. Moreover, he asks Richie a rhetorical question whether the original painter or the forger is the true genius. Irving also points out the fact that people con themselves all the time to get through their lives. There is a lot of truth to the statement. People often convince themselves that things happen for a reason, things will always turn out well in the end, or that they are better than they actually are in order to self assure themselves and feel safe. Accordingly, a con man understands and takes advantage of these delusions. I really like that this concept and theme is carried throughout and developed during the film.
Richie also has an interesting relationship with Sydney, who he only knows as Edith. Although he has a fiancé, he takes an interest in and is attracted to Edith. At first, Syndey wants to use Edith to get leverage on Richie in case they need to use it against him. However, their relationship begins to appear real. As Irving is hesitant to leave his wife, Sydney has incentive to make him feel jealous. Amy Adams is brilliant in her role. Surely, she is conning one of the men. The first possibility is that she has really fallen in love with Richie and making Irving jealous is just an added bonus. The second possibility is she is still completely in love with Irving and is very convincing in seducing and tricking Richie as she initially vowed. This situation is very intriguing and I did not who she is truly playing until it is revealed at the end.
While Richie has power over Irving and Sydney, he is too aggressive and obvious to be a successful scam artist. It is exactly the reason he needs Irving. When they try to tempt and catch mayor Carmine Polito taking a bribe from them, Richie slides the briefcase of money to Carmine too early and too eagerly. Accordingly, Carmine is immediately terrified about taking the bribe and storms out. However, Irving is able to clean up the mess and gain Carmine’s trust. Nevertheless, Carmine does not trust Richie and rightfully so. I really like Jeremy Renner as an actor and he does a fine job as Carmine. The character is a beloved mayor who is a champion of the people. He is a family man with many children. He also adopted an African American son from a rough neighborhood which shows he embraces every community in his city, even the minorities. He fought for the legalization of gambling in New Jersey and now tries to facilitate investments in the renovation of Atlantic City to boost the economy of his state. In general, he is a very captivating and personable character that you like. Renner captures all these aspects of Carmine. Carmine’s relationship with Irvine is also very entertaining. The two really hit it off and are best friends. Renner and Bale definitely have a lot of fun with the characters and their on screen relationship. However, the friendship convolutes the plot even more for Irving. Although he has plenty of practice faking affection for others, Irving actually cares for Carmine. Accordingly, Irvine wants to find a way to avoid or limit the damage that will be done to Carmine’s life once the FBI lays the hammer down. It definitely shows that Irving is not just a con man trying to save his own skin. He does have a heart and redeeming qualities. While he is definitely not a hero, he is not a bad guy either. On the other hand, I also like the grey area in Carmine as a character. He is genuinely a good guy that wants to do better for his community and state. However, he is also a realist. The casino business involves some shady characters. As such, he knows he cannot always keep his hands clean and only deal with good people. As such, you will either like him for doing what it takes for the betterment of his people or dislike him if you are unforgiving to anyone who breaks the law. Again, it is not black or white.
Of course, I save the best for last. While Christian Bale is great as the leading character, Jennifer Lawrence commands and steals the show whenever she is on the screen. She plays the unpredictable Rosalyn, Irving’s wife. Ironically, Irving is a con man that got conned by Rosalyn into marrying her. Obviously, one of the reasons he married her was for her beauty. He also thought she was an amazing woman. However, she turns out to be a wife that never wants to leave the house and criticizes Irving when he comes home. In her words, their relationship is they “fight and fuck”. At the beginning of the movie, she is presented as clueless since she accidentally sets things on fire in the house. She also has a tendency to cause problems for Irving. After he fixes them or comes up with plans to solve the problems, she claims her actions are done on purpose and takes credit for his epiphanies. However, do not judge her by immediate appearance. She is definitely manipulative as shown by her tricking an expert con artist into marrying her and staying married to her by using his love of her son and knowledge of his illegal activities against him. On the other hand, the fact that Irving can unconditionally love his stepson is another redeeming quality that proves he is more than just a depraved criminal. He is a decent human being for needing to be a father to a boy that is not his biological son. As Irving is committing crimes through his scams, he is definitely not a hero. However, his redeeming qualities show he is not a villain either. Moreover, he seems to be someone who is committing cons out of necessity rather than greed. He also tries to only target bad people. As I find myself being an apologist for Irving, I realize my perception may be what I want to believe which is in line with what Irving wants me to believe. It is the exact reason the plot and Bale’s performance as Irving is excellent.
Moreover, Rosalyn can hold her own against anyone. When Irving builds his friendship with Carmine, he brings Rosalyn along on a double date with Carmine and his wife. Rosalyn is flawless in charming them. During a party, she has no fear mingling with mobsters while the rest of her group, which includes her husband, are scared to approach them. Naturally, she has a contentious relationship with Sydney. As soon as Rosalyn sees Sydney, she can immediately tell Sydney is Irving’s mistress. They get into a vicious, harsh verbal exchange. Both women are strong and you do not want to trifle with them. Their fight leads to a signature scene in the movie when Jennifer Lawrence kisses Amy Adams as Rosalyn tries to unnerve Sydney. Rosalyn is a great character because she is unpredictable and manipulative. Irving and Sydney completely dread what she will do as she could blow up the plan, which is dangerous as they deal with powerful politicians and the mob. Jennifer Lawrence has once again proven she is an incredible actress. Whether it is the strong and valiant teenage heroine, Katniss Everdeen, or the crazy, more mature mother and wife, Rosalyn Rosenfeld, she delivers riveting performances. It is difficult to imagine that the real life Jennifer Lawrence is the goofy and fun loving 23 year old she appears to be during interviews. It is a testament to her acting skills as she is able to play vastly different characters that are also nothing like her real personality.
Again, American Hustle is a brilliantly witty and fun movie. It is definitely a movie I recommend to watch if you want to sit back and be entertained. It has a top tier cast that delivers great performances. Christian Bale really drives the movie as the lead and Jennifer Lawrence distinguishes herself again. The plot gets complicated but it all fits together neatly at the end. I also like that the characters and plot is not black and white. Similar to the real world, there is a lot of grey and you can decide for yourself whether you believe individual characters are good or bad. As the theme of the movie suggests, you will believe in what you want to believe in. As for me, I believe this movie is a very good one.
About Pat Wong
Patrick is a contributor for Rookerville. He is an avid sports fan. Before joining Rookerville, he was part of a defunct New York Yankees message board, NYYankeefans, where he was its top poster and was inducted in its Hall of Fame for his contributions. Patrick is also a passionate fan of movies. He has enjoyed reading movie reviews over the years and is excited about the opportunity to review movies.