As I mentioned in my review of Enough Said, I love the last two weeks of December. This time of year everyone is home for the holidays, in a festive mood and if you're lucky, off from work.
I use my free time between Christmas and New Years to see as many movies as possible. I like to see as many of the nominated films as I can before awards season kicks off in January. This year the Golden Globes are particularly early, Sunday January 12th.
Last night I saw American Hustle, written and directed by David O. Russell, the same mind behind last year's awards season darling, Silver Linings Playbook.
For the movie, Russell reunited with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper and invited Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner into the mix.
The premise of the film is that Irving (played by Christian Bale) is a con man. One day at a pool party he meets Sydney (played by Amy Adams). They have an instant attraction and once they get to know each other, decide to go into business together conning people by offering bank loans that never arrive.
Enter Richie, an FBI agent desperate to make a name for himself (played by Bradley Cooper). He nabs Irving and Sydney and forces them to help him bust people. Their first victim: Camden, New Jersey mayor Carmine Polito (played by Jeremy Renner).
It's at dinners with Carmine that we begin to see more of Irving's wife (played by Jennifer Lawrence) and we even get a cameo from Robert DeNiro! I had no idea he was attached to this movie.
The film follows Irving, Sydney, Richie and Carmine as they try to obtain a big enough loan to open new casinos in Atlantic City. Carmine wants to bring new revenue and jobs to the people of New Jersey through revitalizing the boardwalk.
I loved absolutely everything about this movie. The characters, the plot, the humor, the hair, the make up, the costumes, the sets, the cars, the soundtrack - everything. The film is set in 1978 and the hair, make up and costumes are so convincing I left there wanting to feather my hair.
Christian Bale put on 40+ pounds to play Irving. If you've ever read about Bale, you know he's very serious about method acting. His character in this film was very serious about his comb over. I loved that very first scene where he delicately arranges, fluffs and sprays his hair before he heads out for the day.
I don't usually like Amy Adams (I find her too saccharine), but I applaud her in this role. She was crafty and the perfect wing woman. I have to say, I was stunned by her sexy wardrobe in the film. I feel like the movie posters should read, "American Hustle: starring Amy Adams' boobs." I don't think she had a single outfit she wasn't about to pop out of.
Bradley Cooper's character Richie was a power hungry idiot, which made him hard to watch. I have to hand it to him though, he rocked that horrible curly hair. I actually thought his best scenes were with his boss, played by Louis C.K. Their interactions, especially the scenes about the ice fishing story, had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.
Cooper wasn't the only one rocking crazy hair, Jeremy Renner was transformed into a bouffant sporting politician for his role as Carmine. I found his character a bit odd. We were supposed to believe he was in love with his wife, cares for his five kids, yet he also does back door deals to get his initiatives moved forward.
Jennifer Lawrence had much less screen time in the movie than I realized. As Irving's stay-at-home wife, she often complains of boredom. She fixates on weird things like the scent of her nail polish top coat. I will say that when she did come onto the screen, she got some of the biggest laughs in the theater. I would not be surprised to see her nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar come March.
I really did love every aspect of American Hustle. I was highly entertained every minute and I left wanting a time machine to go back to the 1970s.
Did you see it? What did you think?
*Images courtesy of American Hustle.
