Coastal View News
A hustler or con
artist is someone who pretends to be something or someone he or she is not so
as to gain an advantage over other people. To be a good con artist you have to
be shrewd, industrious, and willing to lie, cheat, and backstab. It sounds
pretty bad when it’s put that way. So it’s no surprise that when most of us think
of a con artist we think of some sleazy guy with slicked back hair and no
scruples bilking sweet old ladies out of their life savings.
That’s what we think
of. But maybe we are all con artists, at least to some extent. We act like
different people in different circumstances so that others will like us. We lie
about ourselves to gain others’ confidence. We use, and maybe even abuse, that
confidence from time to time to help ourselves out. We may not ever rob sweet
ol’ granny. Still, we hurt feelings, trade away friendships, undermine
competitors, and even trick ourselves about who we are and what we are capable
of.
This is what “American
Hustle” is about. It is about con artists. And a few of these con artists
happen to be those sleazy professional-type con artists. Irving Rosenfeld
(Christian Bale), for example, is a super sleazy professional-type con artist
(he even likes to glue a tuft of hair to his bald dome and swoop the rest of
his hair over so as to make himself looks less sleazy and more put together; of
course, nothing could make him seem sleazier). Irving “trades in art”, and
“sets up loans” for people in dire financial straits. Sydney Prosser (Amy
Adams) is Irving’s helper. She pretends to be this British lady who has
“connections” back in London. Really, though, they just take money from people
and never pay them back.
Eventually they get
caught by Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), who is this hotshot FBI agent—a real
legend in his own mind. Richie convinces Irving and Sydney to flip sides (in
lieu of going to jail) to help the FBI catch some bigger fish. Richie has his
sights set on the biggest of fish—mob kingpins, mayors, senators, etc. Irving
thinks this is all a bad idea and thinks that there is no way it’ll work.
Richie won’t hear it, though. He thinks he can pull off the sting of the
century.
So Irving and Sydney,
who were in the business of using other people, are now being used by Richie to
use other people who are also in the business of using other people. Except
Irving and Sydney are pretty good at this whole thing and so they figure out
ways to use Richie, making him think that he is using them when really they are
using him. But it all gets more complicated when some of those being set up
hear of the plot and so try to turn it around to their advantage. So everyone
is using everyone. Everyone is a con artist. Everyone is a hustler.
Some of the con
artists in this movie are more self-aware about their con artistry than others.
But whether or not they face the facts, they all seem to think that they do
what they do, and indeed must to what
they do, for one simple reason: survival. Like it’s inevitable. Like you either
cheat, steal, manipulate, etc., or else you get eaten alive. Of course, that a
behavior is widespread doesn’t mean that it’s inevitable. Still, “American
Hustle” says we are all con artists because we have to be con artists and
that’s that. This is a pretty bleak observation. But maybe it is true.
None of this is
really what makes “American Hustle” a good movie or at least fun to watch,
though. It is fun to watch because it is extremely well acted. No surprise
there. Most of us could watch Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper,
Jennifer Lawrence, and Jeremy Renner play Chinese Checkers for two hours and be
just fine. Watching this movie is even better, though, because the plot is
complex and engaging. The movie is also pretty funny, too.
So that’s what makes
“American Hustle” fun to watch. I suppose that probably also makes it a good
movie.
