Jul 31st 2013, 19:58, by Jay A. Fernandez
Oh, my. Bradley Cooper in curlers and a spray tan. Christian Bale playing Jennifer Lawrence's butt like a drum. Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" rocking along the images. Yes, it's the brand new trailer for David O. Russell's next film, "American Hustle," and it plays like a deliriously fun mash-up of "Boogie Nights" and "GoodFellas." Which is to say, it cannot hit theaters soon enough (Sony won't release it until December, unfortunately).
Written by Russell and Eric Singer ("The International"), "Hustle" also stars Amy Adams, Robert De Niro, Jeremy Renner and Louis C.K. in a story inspired by one of the most amazing real-life stings the FBI ever concocted. That the law enforcement organization employed a trashy con man and his female partner to pull it off just underlines the amoral griminess of the post-Watergate American landscape in which the events took place. Referred to as ABSCAM, the hustle involved ferreting out corruption among public figures with the use of a fake sheikh, bribes for political favors and incriminating videotape, and it led to the conviction of a senator, half a dozen representatives, a state senator and several councilman, among others, in 1981. For anyone looking to read up on the real crime story, there's an out-of-print book from the early '80s called The Sting Man, written by Robert W. Greene, and two volumes of the related FBI files available.
Like Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece, "Hustle" — at least by indication of the trailer — has a classic '70s soundtrack, an over-the-top era-specific milieu and a master-class set of actors — its six leads are all Oscar bait, with three previous winners (mostly from Russell films). And coming after his Oscar-winning films "The Fighter" and "Silver Linings Playbook," Russell, who was nominated for his directing of both those films, has unbeatable awards momentum. Sony clearly has the Oscar endgame in mind with its planned wide opening Christmas Day. DreamWorks tried a similar strategy in 2002 with its adaptation of the Frank Abagnale Jr. memoir Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake, directed by Steven Spielberg (and co-starring Adams). That drama featured an FBI man chasing a clever forger and impersonator who, in real life, was eventually caught and put to work by the authorities using his knowledge to apprehend criminals like him. It did extremely well with audiences but didn't turn up much enthusiasm with the Academy. The Mike Newell-directed 1997 drama "Donnie Brasco," based on Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley's Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, didn't either with its real-life tale of an undercover FBI agent infiltrating the '70s mob.
When done well, these tawdry peeks into the past give us both an exhilarating sense of the potent high all that sex, drugs, violence, deception and (perceived) power creates and the cold recognition that all our predictable human flaws will inevitably bring it all down. For appreciative audiences, they're an enticing mix of wish fulfillment and relatable drama, without the actual fistfights, handcuffs, and gunplay. And with the inclusion of the word "American" in the title (see: "American Graffiti," "American Gangster," "American Beauty," "American Psycho," "American Gigolo," et al.), Russell's film clearly aims to identify (and indict?) the endemic cultural traits that spawn these types of characters, collisions, and crimes.
Check out the killer trailer, below, and tell us if “American Hustle” looks good to you.
The post David O. Russell Dirties Up the ’70s in New ‘American Hustle’ Trailer appeared first on Word and Film.
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