The Art of Conning

There should be no boomer out there who would dislike the movie American Hustle. And this boomer liked the flick so much that I watched it twice within a month! The 70's-era film with big hair, excessive cleavage, disco music and outlandish costumes was just a blast. Ever since The Fighter, I've become a big fan of director/writer/producer David O. Russell. Who cares if George Clooney and Lily Tomlin hated him? Here's a director who went through a professional (a six-year hiatus with no film) and personal (his son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder) crisis and re-emerged in Hollywood at the top of his game! So it's no surprise that Russell wrote a story about resilience and survival with such wit and humour. So far, both the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild Awards loved the film. Russell was, for once, not a producer of this movie and left it to Bradley Cooper who, in addition to being one of the key supporting actors, was also the co-executive producer.

This is a movie which showcased its actors. That's why for the second consecutive year (after last year's Silver Linings Playbook), Russell once again led his cast to Oscar nominations in all four acting categories with Christian Bale (Best Actor), Amy Adams (Best Actress), Jennifer Lawrence (Best Supporting Actress) and Bradley Cooper (Best Supporting Actor). Every single one of them excelled in this film and on top of that, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K. and Robert De Niro all gave outstanding supporting performances.

Amidst this excellent cast, I have to root for Amy Adams as the winner of Best Actress at the Oscars on March 2. If I were a member of the Academy, it would have been a toss-up between Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine and Amy Adams in this film. All the nominees in this category probably deserved to win, but there's a difference between who ought to win and who I want to win. It's unfair that Jennifer Lawrence has almost overshadowed Adams in all the media coverage on her supporting role. But Adams's performance was just 'one hit out of the ballpark' strong! From her previous outstanding, but diverse roles in The Fighter, The Master and even the recent Her, one would never have thought that she could play such a glamourous, clever, scheming female con artist. But sporting extreme cleavage for the most part of the movie, Adams as Sydney Prosser was dazzlingly hot and charismatic in this film! The sharp contrast against her 'girl next door' role in Her all the more confirmed her acting sophistication. Everbody could only remember Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julia and Julia and almost nobody recalls Amy Adams as the other Julia in the film. But in American Hustle, Adams, the ultimate femme fatale, with her irresistible animal magnetism, just made the movie!

The entire flick was based on the 'conning' theme - "people believe what they want to believe". So, if you agree with this premise, nothing is off limits in the art of conning. As a crime comedy, the film was surprisingly brain-wracking and I'd recommend that you pay full attention every single minute. Otherwise, if you snooze, you lose! There were so many metaphors throughout the movie - hairdos played a very major role! Big hair, curly hair, toupees, comb-overs, showgirl updos, bouffants, permed hair, afros... you name it! Most of the male and female leading and supporting actors at one point wore either curlers or hairpieces in the movie. Can we see through the characters behind the hairdos? That's the main question for the audience.

Then there's the ice-fishing story trying to be told many times in the film by the popular U.S. comedian Louis C.K., but never got finished. And the numerous fires, explosions and accidents started by Jennifer Lawrence in her role as Rosalyn, the Long-Island homemaker, the loose-cannon wife who almost brought about the downfall of con man Irving Rosenfeld, masterfully played by Christian Bale.

Jeremy Renner didn't get any award nominations for his supporting role as New Jersey mayor Carmine Polito. But his cartoonish performance was so comical and convincing that he kind of reminded me of Chris Christie in his current Bridgegate crisis.

All in all, a two-thumbs-up movie if you want to laugh, morally reflect and be entertained at the same time!