American Hustle

David O. Russell usually satisfies me. But his last two films didn't quite do it for me. Silver Linings Playbook was funny, but I desperately wanted it to either be funnier or more serious, it was in an awkward middle ground. I hated The Fighter. So I guess from the trailers I was hoping for a funnier film out of this, or at least a serious film with its moments of comedy well picked.

This film works. That's the only way to say it. It just works so well. It has its moments of brilliant comedy, and then it really knows how and when to take itself seriously. But most of my props for this amazing movie go to the five pictured leads. Bradley Cooper impresses once again as an overly eager FBI agent, doing things to make the audience laugh one moment, and then frustrating the audience with his juvenile actions the next. Amy Adams, who I've developed a dislike for, is an amazingly seductive and manipulative con artist. Christian Bale maintains a perfect balance of likability with obvious wrongdoing, allowing us to support him despite his wrong doing no matter your moral stance. Jennifer Lawrence plays a broken, addicted, and sometimes hilarious ex wife, who's maltreatment of her child actually can work as comedy. Jeremy Renner plays an immediately too likable politician, one who you know you have to like, but who I found myself getting frustrated with for being too likable. All of this works just so well. Each one of them deserves something for their performances. I had no idea much of this film was even improv. That fascinates me. It's a brilliant display of some of the best talent Hollywood has to offer.

The film itself knows when to balance ridiculousness with comedy. In particular, the revelation that the fake Sheikh was being played by a Mexican man sticks out in my mind. Shots of Bradley Cooper nonchalantly curling his hair are incredibly funny. There was even a bit of humor in an awkward almost sex scene between Adams and Cooper in a public restroom. The creators knew where comedy could be pulled in ways I didn't expect. I loved that.

There's not much else to really say about this (considering at this time it has now been over a month since I've seen it), but it's definitely one of the best the year has to offer.

Rank - 5/5