Little Georgie, our Newfoundland puppy has been dominating our time since he joined our household last Saturday.  A puppy, as many of you know, takes a serious amount of time and attention. And then there is the job of house-breaking….

We did manage a couple hours to ourselves yesterday to see American Hustle, playing up the street at the Queensway Cineplex. Let me say up front: we both loved this movie.

It’s directed by David O. Russell and stars Christian Bale as small time con artist (and small businessman – he has a modest chain of dry cleaners) Irving Rosenfeld; Amy Adams as his lover and partner in crime; the amazing Jennifer Lawrence as Irving’s wife Rosalyn; Bradley Cooper as FBI agent Richie DiMaso; Jeremy Renner as Mayor Carmine Polito; and even a great cameo by Robert de Niro. I list these actors only because they all did a fantastic job.

I’m not going to get into the story beyond saying it’s a con-man movie. It’s just a very, very good con-man movie. The film has some very funny parts – I found myself laughing out loud a number of times, yet it doesn’t feel like a comedy because there is an underlying darkness and sadness about the characters. It’s very loosely based on the Abscam scandal from the late 70s, but it’s less the plot and more the character relationships that make American Hustle soar.

The film is a period piece that offered the film-makers plenty of opportunity to indulge in some great cars, music, and outfits,  not to mention some tragicomic hair. These props could come across as gimmicks but in this film they work perfectly and I think it’s because the actors are strong enough to carry it off.

American Hustle is fun, stylish, clever and entertaining. It’s apparently not for everyone, though. At the end of the film, a woman behind me loudly exclaimed, “this is so confusing!” I thought it was a great film, and I think you will too.

Related articles

• Awards Season Review: American Hustle (popculturallyinformed.com)
• Thinking Aloud: “American Hustle” (notwhatyoumightthink.wordpress.com)
• AMERICAN HUSTLE Will Be Destroyed By Winning The Oscar (badassdigest.com)
• American Hustle Review (joshbarnesblog.wordpress.com)
• ‘American Hustle’ review: Crazy good (sfgate.com)