American Hustle

I saw American Hustle today for the ridiculously low price of $5.75. I can't believe I actually saw a movie, a first-run movie, for so cheap. I can't remember the last time I paid such a low price to see a movie. Thanks, Evanston! But I digress.

American Hustle was good. It was a little long for my taste, but I still enjoyed most of it. The opening slow-mo sequence with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Bradley Cooper walking into a room at the Plaza Hotel to do a deal while Steely Dan's "Dirty Work" played was excellent. That scene alone was almost worth the price of admission. There's a lot going on in American Hustle and poor little Camden, New Jersey gets dragged through the mud yet again. Hell, Jersey as a whole gets dragged through the mud. As someone who lived in Jersey and went to college there, it's annoying to see yet another depiction of mobsters and corruption because movies like this just feed into the stereotype that everyone running the state is mobbed up or corrupt. I'm surprised Chris Christie hasn't come out frothing at the mouth about the movie. But maybe there's nothing he can say since it is based on the whole Abscam thing and New Jersey politicians were arrested during that whole debacle.

But, back to the movie. The performances were great. Christian Bale put on a ton of weight and looked awful as a result. Bradley Cooper's curled hair was ridiculous and he seems to be getting less attractive with each movie he does, poor thing. Amy Adams probably should win an Oscar this time especially since she was passed over for Junebug, Doubt, and The Master. Jennifer Lawrence provided comedy relief in the film, but I don't think her performance was Oscar-worthy. (I didn't think her performance in Silver Linings Playbook was either.)

Films about the 70s are so freaky and and often wonderful to watch just to see the clothes and everything that goes along with that decade. And, as someone who was born during that time, I find it strangely fascinating.