I loved American Hustle and not just because Christian Bale, as the con man Irving Rosenfeld, is a dead ringer for my Uncle Morty, although instead of using toupee glue, Morty had something called a Hair System which was attached using metal snaps which had been surgically tucked into his scalp. Jennifer Lawrence, as Irving’s unstable wife Rosalyn, is also the twin of my cousin Arlene, except that Arlene always had some lipstick on her teeth and an adhesive beauty mark which looked like those dots on the spines of library books. The movie is very loosely based on the Abscam scandal, but thanks to the hair, makeup and the extensive use of tinted aviators worn indoors, it’s like a fabulous mini-series starring Lee Horsley, Connie Selleca and Linda Blair.
American Hustle doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it doesn’t try to make any huge statements about the American soul, because it’s having too much fun letting Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams boogie down with some major Dance Fever moves at a disco. Bradley is a federal agent, and he’s always great at playing guys who think they’re smarter and sexier than they actually are; when he’s thinking really hard, you can practically smell the English Leather. Amy Adams, as Irving’s ex-stripper mistress, seems a little tentative at first, maybe because Amy’s specialty is playing giddy, blue-eyed innocence in movies like Enchanted. But when she faces off with Jennifer, Amy crimps her hair and sets her jaw for battle, and she gets much harder-edged, maybe because she’s got such a worthy opponent.
I just have to say it: Jennifer Lawrence is a movie star. Whenever she shows up, the audience practically explodes with happiness. Real stars only come along every decade or so, and watching Jennifer is like seeing Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman or Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine; these ladies are all terrific actresses, but they’d be totally justified in scribbling “Movie Star” under Occupation on their tax returns. Jennifer is even great on talk shows, where she seems smart and funny and just a teeny bit loony, which is the ideal movie star cocktail.
American Hustle also doesn’t consider government corruption to be a very big deal, because after all, it’s focusing on corruption in New Jersey, where the state bird is a naugahyde attache case filled with unmarked twenties. Politicians in New Jersey are almost endearing, because they’re always selling out for the high four figures. Maybe Chris Christie would stop seeming like such a bully if he just internalized a simple fact: sooner or later he’s going to jail.
I know that some people are having trouble accepting American Hustle as a great movie, so maybe they should just think of it as a great movie about New Jersey. American Hustle is about what would happen if Dynasty had been filmed in Passaic, at a mid-level mall, if you ask me.
