American Hustle (2014)

 The next award season film to be covered is 'American 'Hustle'. Nominated pretty much across the board, the newest David O'Russell comedy focuses on a small time con-man named Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) who, along with his partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), is caught by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) and forced to assist with the investigation and arrest of corrupt politicians (Jeremy Renner), congressmen and members of the Mafia. However, his personal life begins to become entangled with his conning ways and soon his wife (Jennifer Lawrence) gets incredibly close to putting them all in grave danger.

 Visually, this film is outstanding. The attitude and look of the late 70's is captured perfectly in everything from the framing and filters to the costumes and hair. Nothing has been forgotten or misplaced and it all adds to the overall feel of the movie. I must say, I do feel sorry for Bradley Cooper. I don't think I have seen a hairstyle quite as ridiculous in a long time, even though it does weirdly suit his character. This film does what David O'Russell films always do and encompasses you in the world and time of the story and these characters.

 To move on to the acting, the ensemble of previous O'Russell collaborators have come together and genuinely give some great performances. The stand out for me is Christian Bale who plays every aspect of this sleazy yet caring and clever individual with exceptional detail. However, for me (and I may be about to upset some people here), I don't see what all the fuss is about. Jennifer Lawrence is good, yes, but she's no better than a good performance, and it certainly isn't anywhere her award winning role in 'Silver Linings Playbook' (and it doesn't even come close to Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years A Slave of Julia Roberts in August Osage County). The same goes for Bradley Cooper. Yes he is good in this movie, but there is nothing stand out about it. Amy Adams has a slightly different issue. She is incredible in this film and if that was all that mattered in order to get award nominations then she definitely deserves her collection of nods for this movie. It is obvious that she has really gone through it for this part and the emotion comes across on screen. However (and this may just be because I am English) her attempt at a British accent was questionable at most moments throughout the film. This really annoyed me as she is genuinely brilliant in this movie, but the accent (whatever it is) undercuts every scene in which it is required and lets down her incredible performance. Therefore, while they all may deserve their nominations, I personally feel that other performances in other films deserve the win far more than this ensemble.

 Continually (and as a fan of David O'Russell I really don't like the fact that I have issues with this film) the storyline and the script is not up to the standard that should merit a slew of award nods. Don't get me wrong. It's interesting and has its funny moments and moves along at a fast pace but there is nothing special. The whole con aspect doesn't really contain anything new or original and the humour is sparse at best. In short, it's just kind of average.

 To sum up, this is a good film and that shouldn't be forgotten or overlooked. It's just missing something that would put it up with the other nominees this award season. Without the expectation of an award standard movie, the problems would be less obvious but with that expectation on its shoulders, it just doesn't live up to the standard of the other films in the categories.