On a Nod to Goodfellas with American Hustle

From the word go David O Russell’s American Hustle places itself in the mould of Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990). In fact it could be said that American Hustle is parodic. From the multiple voice over’s, quick fire soundtrack, focus on low level urban crime and upbeat mood, American Hustle is, while being its own film, a nod to a classic of the crime genre.

American Hustle though is more of a comedy than Goodfellas ever was, despite the “I’m funny how”, routine. The characters are cartoonish and the narrative elaborate to the point of becoming farce. In fact, farce and absurdity are the sub genres of comedy most relevant here. A result of this is that American Hustle lacks the edge and danger of Goodfellas. But, even though the film is clearly set in the same mould, it is unfair to judge it against the close to perfect Goddfellas. American Hustle is very much a film in its own right. It is well acted and consistently watchable and as long as one remembers it belongs to the comedy genre (which is difficult for a film that has been so awarded as awarding bodies often ignore comedy), it is hard to really criticise, especially if the criticism is that it isn’t a film it was only nodding to, not trying to be.

There is the potential early on and one can be forgiven for predicting this route that the film will get darker and become a deeper metaphor on the American Dream. American Hustle does have the expected down on the other side of the criminals’ up, but it kind of all works out okay, which means it lacks any lasting or serious commentary. Not quite as stand out as Russell’s Three Kings (1999) or The Fighter (2010), which remain his best works, but still very entertaining.