Movie Review: American Hustle..You may not fall for it..

American Hustle..the title may mislead some of us who are familiar with the hit television show ‘Hustle’ which is about a group of conmen who take gleeful pleasure in first conning the ‘mark’ and then letting the audience wonder how they did it, before the big reveal giving great detail of how it was actually pulled off. Never mind how contrived and co-incidental it all gets, you still go along for the ride since its so thrilling and fun. With American Hustle, you get none of the above and if that’s the expectation with which you went in..you are bound to come out bitterly disappointed

American Hustle should be seen for its performances, tight storyline and plot development upto a point and crackling dialogue and screenplay. Particularly noteworthy are scenes which will have the characters serious and the audience in guffaws Some of the lines are a brilliant character study and may not even sink in, in the first watch.

The plot development is tight and interesting to about the half way stage. After that, things suddenly turn awry, almost becoming dysfunctional to the main storyline and you wonder what went wrong. The climax is interesting though it might be unconvincing. For the most part, direction is smart and sharp. However, there are some movies whose makers consider themselves far too intelligent, their script far too superior to be explained to even an interested audience. The result – you don’t end up falling for it and come out feeling somewhat cheated and bewildered. American Hustle just might make you feel that way.

Now to the best part – the performances. I was pretty much convinced that the ‘wolf’ had it ‘in the bag’ for the Oscars this time around. After watching American Hustle, am not so sure. Bale’s performance is so natural, he may as well be his character – he’s definitely giving Leonardo a run for his money at the Oscars. Bradley Cooper also gets a meaty character, including an entirely new look but he doesn’t convince as much, especially in scenes of high emotion. Amy Adams does a credible job of a complex character whereas the only thing unconvincing about Jennifer Lawrence’s character is her blonde wig. Jeremy Renner does justice to his relatively smaller role as well

Given its dialogues and natural performances, better treatment of its story would really have gone miles as an overall package. However, the smug version of it that you get to watch finally doesn’t really make you fall for it – hook, line or sinker. If you are willing to trade that off for great performances – with 10 Oscar nominations – you might want to check out what American Hustle offers. However, if you think that’ll make you feel conned out of good money, you might want to give it a second thought