Film review: American Hustle draws on Scorsese, Coppola and Altman

American Hustle
Starring: Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence
Director: David O. Russell
Category: IIB

Fuelled with nostalgia for a bygone, much missed era of American filmmaking, displays its influences for all to see. Director David O. Russell ( ) channels the incandescent dialogue of early Martin Scorsese works and the bravado of classic Francis Ford Coppola films, and throws in some old Robert Altman tricks like overlapping, naturalistic dialogue for good measure.

's story begins as a standard crime thriller about a mismatched duo of con artists. But it gradually transforms into something bigger by allowing observations on romance, friendship, deceit, jealousy, loyalty and all manner of other human qualities to seep into the storyline. Swelling to epic emotional proportions by the end, it even has a Shakespearean theme lurking in the wings.

Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a brilliant conman who swindles cash out of desperate people. He falls in love with the seductive Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), who then dons a true-Brit persona and helps to take his scams upmarket. But the duo's life of crime is cut short by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) in a sting.

Still, DiMaso has his sights set on bigger fish than a couple of two-bit hustlers and ropes Rosenfeld and Prosser into an undercover operation to clean up the corrupt political system of New Jersey. Things get dicey when the Mafia becomes involved, and Rosenfeld has to use his manipulative skills to stay safe.

As the plot widens, director Russell focuses on the personal lives of the characters, with attention paid to Irving's relationship with his clingy but interesting wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), his friendship with Atlantic City mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) and an affair between DiMaso and Prosser that may or may not be the real thing.