【电影简介】

精明的诈骗高手艾文（克里斯蒂安·贝尔饰）和情妇西德尼（艾米·亚当斯饰）是一对无往不利的职业诈骗搭档，不慎在警方的一次钓鱼行动中栽了跟头，西德尼被捕入狱，作为交换条件，他们必须与知法犯法的FBI干员里奇（布莱德利·库珀饰）合作，通过诈骗设局钓出更多贪污腐败的政府官员。里奇锁定的第一个对象就是新泽西卡姆登市的市长卡麦因（杰瑞米·雷纳饰）。他们混进了卡麦因的小内阁，企图一举纠出收贿的贪官污吏。但艾文不按理出牌的正派妻子罗瑟琳（詹妮弗·劳伦斯饰）却像个不定时炸弹般，极可能令整个钓鱼行动毁于一旦，但也可能是拯救艾文的最后一根稻草。

【音频文本】

"American Hustle" is a faint crime drama and a flat comedy; however, it features the perfect atmosphere for its actors and actresses to present their skills.

Based on the FBI ABSCAM operation of the 1970s, Eric Singer and David O. Russell's screenplay reconstructsthe experience of conmen Irving Rosenfeld, Sydney Prosser and FBI agent Richie Di Maso, as well as Irving's wife Rosalyn. These roles are shared by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence respectively. The story begins with the conmen getting arrested by agent Richie. The FBI agent proposes torelease them if Irving and Sydney assist him with four additional arrests. Together they attempt to entrapthe mayor of Camden, New Jersey and a few Congressmen. However, the team soon find out that they need to spin a bigger web as the scam develops out of hand to involve local Mafia overlord Victor Tellegio.

You would assume a movie about such a crime involves quite a bit of suspense, but American Hustle happens to be just the opposite. From the very beginning, the director reminds the viewers not to take it seriously by stating "some of this actually happened" in the title sequence. This reveals the director's decision to take a casual approach to storytelling.

Also casual is the manner in which Russell puts the pieces together, which allows the scenes to flow from one to another. In fact there is a good deal of risk involved in doing this: the absence of deliberate suspense makes it harder to command the viewer's attention. So, the director basically has to rely on the skills of the actors and actresses to keep the audience interested.

Fortunately, the director has the full support from the aforementioned professionals, whose performances form a good case for the study of movie characters and relations. Christian Bale's big belly alone shows his dedication to the role, his portrayal of Irving Rosenfeld sheds light on the conman's prudence and his shifting attitude towards the scheme. Amy Adams presents a con woman that is meticulous with every detail. And meanwhile, Jennifer Lawrence delivers a stereotypical character in full.

As a crime comedy-drama, "American Hustle" lacks the thrill and comical effects of films such as "Pulp Fiction" or "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", but it certainly makes up for it with top-notch performances from the actors and actresses.

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