American Hustle

Jan 12, 2014

And finally I get to see American Hustle yesterday...it has been one of the most anticipated movies of the year for me ( still waiting to see Joaquin Pheonix's Her and August : Osage County with its glittering star cast ) . But here is what I think about what I saw yesterday.

In two words: LOVED IT!

American Hustle is an incredibly delirious maniacal anarchic comedy...and directed by none other  David O' Russell ( Silver Linings Playbook , Fighter, Anchorman) and is produced by Annapurna pictures ( owned by Megan Ellison, daughter of Larry Ellison ) which has churned out some awesome movies like The Master, Zero Dark Thirty and Her). So I was tremendously piqued to know what the "hustle"was going to be...and boy was I blow away! 

This movie is a piece of art ...I mean where would you find a melee of ambition, greed, manipulation , deception , corruption, a three way crazy love triangle (and there are at least 2 of them) ,  a sinister mobster ( in an uncredited role for Robert DiNiro) ...and have it be a rollicking comedy???  
I had Heartman nudging me through out the movie to laugh a tad bit quietly ...but I could not help myself...the movie had me so gripped in most of the scenes and in my view ought to be one of the Oscar contenders for the year. 

In a stunning star cast ... Bradley Cooper -as hyper active , ambitious Richie DiMaso...who uses tiny curlers to curl up his straight hair, Jeremy Renner - as a goody mayor of New Jersey- Carmine Polito whose ambition drives him to corruption- and did I mention the Elvis style Pompadour?,  Jennifer Lawrence - as the crazy, nut-case stay at home voluptuous blond wife , in an up-do , Amy Adams - as Sydney Prosser - the smart, sassy con artist , in a very inspired performance( one of her best) with hair that changes according to her mood...sometimes Diana Ross , sometimes flowy curls ... and finally , Christian Bale ( as Irving Rosenfeld- an amazingly incredible performance ,  so heartfelt -as the mastermind con-artiste with a conscience and crazy side combed hair -the hair has secrets as we are introduced to at the beginning of the movie!) Bale , btw , put on 40 pounds for this role ! 

The beauty of this movie lies in so much attention to not just the story line ( which does does have some drawbacks) but the incredible characterizations ...with each and every role, large -small....electrifying...

The movie has the marks of the director all over ...from the two way voice overs  and characters mouthing the words to background music...the movie is like a live art installation!

Which is why I don't want to give away the story and want you to Go watch it!  

**picture courtesy blogs.artinfo.com

DESIGNED BY ECLAIR DESIGNS