Smart, funny, sexy and bizarrely enchanting, the American Hustle DVD has just been released and it’s an instant charmer in terms of style, performances, cinematography and finish. It’s the second film that director, David O. Russell, has cast both Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, following on from Silver Linings Playbook in 2012, and it’s another stand-out hit with a unique story and visual delivery that fully deserves the 10 Academy Award nominations it picked up earlier this year.
Released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download on the 28th April 2014, it’s genuinely got to be seen to be appreciated. If you’re a big action movie fan, you like your comedy dripping in obvious and corny jokes or you’re looking for a cheesy cliche then you should probably look elsewhere, but if you like slick, unique and intelligent films then this is one to watch if you missed it at the cinema.
The story is set in 1978 and starts out with mid level, New York fraudster, Irving Rosenfeld, played by Christian Bale (The Dark Knight Rises), as he takes his loan scams to the next level when he meets and falls for Sydney Prosser, played by Amy Adams. The two become an unstoppable team, despite Rosenfeld’s crazy and needy wife, Rosalyn (Lawrence), who does her utmost to hold on to her pot-bellied, comb-over crowned husband.
However, their mid-level crook exploits come to a sticky crossroads when eager-beaver FBI agent, Richi DiMaso (Cooper) manages to bust the pair and drag them into his bigger fish operations as bate. Cue a massive bust on Mayor Carmine Polito, played by Jeremy Renner (The Avengers), a host of US senators and the East coast mob, headed up by shade wearing boss, Victor Tellegio, played by Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), and you’ve got one brilliantly spun plot.
It’s a fascinating story to see unfold in the film as move and counter-move intertwine to build to the outsmarted outsmarting ending, especially as it’s based on the real life events of the ABSCAM FBI sting-operation. If you’re not familiar with it, you’re probably best looking it up after watching the movie, as it’ll give too much away about how it all ends, but it loosely follows the same progression as the film, but with altered names and a significant helping of creative license. In the words of the American Hustle opening scene, “some of this actually happened”.
The cast is beguilingly brilliant, with Adams, Renner, Cooper, Bale and Lawrence bringing a lot of layers to their characters to portray their strengths, weaknesses, genius and failings. You buy into each of them with an ease that’s a massive credit to their acting abilities, as well as to Russell’s knack for bringing the best out of his on-screen stars, including Robert De Niro, who puts in another impressive performance for the director.
The combination of the faultless screenplay by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, great cinematography from Linus Sandgren, set design and costumes add to the acting and directorial might that has gone into making American Hustle such a stand-out movie. Picking up Academy Award nomination for, , it’s one of this year’s most critically acclaimed films.
The soundtrack to the movie is another key aspect of what makes American Hustle work so well, with an excellent selection of tracks that range from Tom Jones’ Delilah and Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to Wings’ Live And Let Die and Duke Ellington’s Jeep’s Blues. One of the smartest things music director, Danny Elfman, did in the construction of the soundtrack is not getting trapped into stringing together 70s disco hits. Instead, it’s a brilliantly selected mix of eclectic tracks that take in the majority of the 20th Century up to the late 70s.
American Hustle DVD extras include, a making of featurette, along with a series of deleted and extended scenes to give you an idea of what went into the creation of the film and what didn’t make it into the cinematic cut.
The big question though is whether or not to buy or rent the DVD, Blu-ray or digital download and overall we’d have to say that it’s a 50/50 judgement call. The movie is genius and the style makes it an easy one to watch a few times down the line, so it’ll probably pay back in the long run, but either way you decide to see the movie, it’s one that needs to be seen to be believed, especially with all of the hype and award nominations that it’s picked up.
American Hustle DVD review: 4.5/5
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