American Hustle

Just why??? I don't understand. This one had everything in its' favor. A stellar director, an attractive, well-liked and talented cast, hair and makeup which is already kind of a comedy as it is, and not to mention the trailers made it look like so much fun to watch. So why did I end up feeling like I was watching a cheap trick for almost 2.5 hours?

The overall idea here is that pretty much all of the main characters are awful people trying to outscrew each other. Irving (Christian Bale) & Sydney (Amy Adams) are a pair of con artists who came from nothing and rose to something by riding other people's checkbooks and work. After a certain scam, they are busted by Richie (Bradley Cooper), a detective who really doesn't have that many ethics considering how quickly he is turned to the dark side by the conniving pair. Their goal is to screw over Mayor Carmine (Jeremy Renner) in order to save all of their asses and make a quick buck. Oh and Irving is also married to Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) who has the potential to blow the whole con job to Hell considering her massive gift of simultaneously doing and saying all the wrong things at once.

So where did all this potential for a blast go wrong? For starters, I feel like the cast was other underutilized or just didn't perform up to par. Jennifer Lawrence is great in her scenes, but considering her past work in Winter's Bone, Silver Linings Playbook, and even the Hunger Games series, this performance fades and she really isn't on camera enough to really shine (though I must say her angry cleaning scene is my favorite of the whole movie). Amy Adams probably gives the most "Oscar friendly" performance, but her character just feels so static and bland, the most interesting thing about Sydney is that she doesn't wear a dress that covers her up from beginning to end (which I must say Adams wears quite well).

The men fare even worse. I'm actually quite baffled by the Oscar nominations that the two received. Christian Bale's performance feels so terribly dry and tedious I was wondering if he was even acting in the same movie (or the "fun" that the movie was trying to achieve). There's no swagger or comedy about his performance or character he's just a straight up dud. Bradley Cooper also failed to stand-out, I easily found him to be the most forgettable of the four.

When I think about the movie's script and progression from beginning to end, I start reminiscing about those old "Choose Your Own Fate/Ending" stories and how I would always manage to hit a wall with every decision I made. This conflict I had with these books couldn't sum up American Hustle any better; it's a project of missed opportunities. All of these characters are either really dim-witted or kind of awful people yet there's no comedy or drama or even a surprise with how the movie progresses. It's a neverending road with no twists, turns, or hills. There were so many scenes I kept waiting for the rocket to take off such as the cameo by Robert De Niro and the foreshadowing of Rosalyn and her big mouth getting everyone in trouble yet the flame just died. "Empty, empty, empty" is a quote barked out by Rosalyn at one point in the movie. She couldn't have summarized her own movie any better. You just got hustled.

Rating: 1/4