【電影簡介】

精明的詐騙高手艾文（克里斯蒂安·貝爾飾）和情婦西德尼（艾米·亞當斯飾）是一對無往不利的職業詐騙搭檔，不慎在警方的一次釣魚行動中栽了跟頭，西德尼被捕入獄，作為交換條件，他們必須與知法犯法的FBI干員里奇（布萊德利·庫珀飾）合作，通過詐騙設局釣出更多貪污腐敗的政府官員。里奇鎖定的第一個對象就是新澤西卡姆登市的市長卡麥因（杰瑞米·雷納飾）。他們混進了卡麥因的小內閣，企圖一舉糾出收賄的貪官污吏。但艾文不按理出牌的正派妻子羅瑟琳（詹妮弗·勞倫斯飾）卻像個不定時炸彈般，極可能令整個釣魚行動毀于一旦，但也可能是拯救艾文的最后一根稻草。

【音頻文本】

"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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