Film Review: American Hustle

by Laura Bennett / December 24, 2013

Rating: M
Release date: December 12th, 2013

American Hustle is a film that gives reason to the cliché of ‘star-studded’, boasting a cast including Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence. With Oscar buzz circling its release, it’s captured a lot of attention, but I think it’s more the message of the movie than the actors that should take our focus.

The simplest way to sum up the plot is as a story based on the lives of cunning 1970’s con artists Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosse (Amy Adams), whose own misfortunes lead them into the political power corridors and mob-boss meetings of undercover FBI Agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).

As DiMaso gains control of Rosenfeld’s small time ‘con-shop’ in exchange for a level of criminal immunity for he and Prosse, DiMaso’s thirst for a career-winning big bust begins to drive the trio into high-risk costly situations.  More lies are told, more taxpayer money spent, and moral boundaries are being further blurred.

From the opening scene as you watch Rosenfeld meticulously construct his comb-over layering grease upon wisps of hair, both real and synthetic, the film sets up its message about falsehood and insincerity. It quickly suggests that the ‘morally confused’ state its characters find themselves in is because of a need to survive in life; For Rosenfeld that began as a child when he drummed up business for his fathers failing glass repair company by going on a citywide smashing spree. His conning ways set in early, and are justified by their apparent necessity.

For Prosse, we have a woman whose greatest desire is to “live any other life but [her] own”. Coming from a background of prostitution and striptease, Irving becomes her escape, and her decent into the world of the con artist is one marked by ‘exceptional talent’ and quick thinking mischievory.

Without going to much into the relational tensions that develop and the layering of lies that are exposed (…just know when you live the life of a con artist it applies to every realm of your circumstance), it’s easy to see that the greatest struggles faced by them all come back to the flaws of deception.

They all have a reality they are trying to dispel with some form of cover up, be it high-level crime, or the more ‘everyday’ form of a perm hiding uncurled hair. Whatever the manifestation, they’re lured by a finite glory that comes at great personal cost and public consequence.

It’s here that the film taps into what I felt was its lasting message.

As Prosse reaffirms that the success of a con comes from the fact that “people believe what they want to believe”, she stumbles upon what can be one of humanities most prominent undoing’s:

Every day we all choose to believe in a certain reality, we make attempts at hiding the things we don’t want seen – ever used makeup? Spanx?…a hair straightener? What about issues of untold sexual sin, financial malpractice, hidden debt? Every day there are people choosing to believe that these bear no consequence on family relationship, that somehow life can carry on despite a divisive root running through the foundations of their existence. People attempt to make choices and yet remain unattached from their ramifications. As you watch American Hustle, just as the Bible talks about a man’s hidden world being disclosed to Christ, we see that the biggest fool of our cons, is us.

As we make choices to deny the reality of Christ, or to dismiss revelations of our moral responsibilities, we are indeed conning ourselves.

The Bible makes clear the standard of life set for us, and as we’re introduced to Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) we find the importance of knowing this, and personally knowing the Word.

Portrayed as an upright man, a genuine politician who sincerely seeks to govern with integrity, bringing about positive change for his community, he stumbles because of a lack of understanding of the Word of God; Irving sees Polito’s desire to maintain his reputation, and uses supposed Biblical quotes to get him on side. It’s enough for the Mayor to find himself misguided, and without spoiling anything, you know it’s leading to trouble.

American Hustle cant be recommended based on its sexual content, drug use, and immoral judgements, and I would warn you to be aware that it does contain this kind of subject matter, but the one encouragement that can be found, is that for the public who do see it, there’s no suggestion that the deceptive lives of those portrayed is an example to follow. American Hustle’s credit is that it shows the consequence and not jut the glory, and hopefully will cause audiences to consider the deception in their own life, however minor it may seem.