Back Seat Viewer: Movie Review: American Hustle

Do you think you have what it takes to be a con-artist? In December 2013, we learned that Irving did, but does he have what it takes to pull off the biggest con he's ever done?

Doing the hustle is: Christian Bale as Irving Rosenfeld, Jennifer Lawrence as Rosalyn Rosenfeld, Bradley Cooper as Richie DiMaso, Amy Adams as Sydney Prosser, Jeremy Renner as Mayor Carmine Polito and Elisabeth Rohm as Dolly Polito.

Also starring Robert De Niro as Victor Tellegio, Louis C.K. as Stoddard Thorsen, Michael Pena as Paco Hernanadez/Sheik Abdullah, Jack Huston as Pete Musane and Anthony Zerbe as Senator Horton Mitchell.

Irving and Sydney make their money pulling off cons together. Happy and making money, the duo were living and enjoying life. Then they met Richie and all that changed. After being caught in a con
by FBI agent Richie DiMaso, Iriving and Sydney are forced into working for Richie to make some busts. Except, Richie's hunger to catch the big fish gets the trio mixed up with some powerful and dangerous individuals.

So, come to find out this was loosely based on an operation called ABSCAM, which was pulled off by the FBI back in the late 1970's. So there you go, a little schooling of useless facts. As for the movie itself, I really dug the story, and it had a brilliant playthrough. Watching the story unfold held my attention the entire time. I've always been fond of a good con movie and this one held up to my expectations. The cast did a great job, even Cooper and Lawrence, which are two people I really don't care for in movies usually. I gotta, say David O. Russell is continuing to show strong directing skill with titles like Three Kings, Silver Linings Playbook (which wasn't as bad as I expected) and now American Hustle. The set and costume department did a great job with the scenery and outfits. Overall, this one is well worth the time to catch.