'American Hustle' in one sentence: Liars and detectives use tricks to trick other liars

Kelli 2022-04-23 07:01:06

From an educational point of view, this is a rubbish film with a negative star. At the end of the story, the two liars broke through the marriage suffocation and ushered in a happy ending. The mayor and other dignitaries who fought for the people's life were deceived and went to prison. Detectives who caught the wrong people were snubbed, but not held accountable. The FBI director, eager for quick success, got his wish and became the focus of the media. And none of the big bad guys the detectives really wanted to catch fell into law. Under the protection of the liar, the mafia boss who had a kick was unscathed, and finally came to thank the liar... To sum up: good people get bad rewards, bad people get good rewards - what the hell!

From a realist perspective, the world might be like that. Although cruel and unfair, no one can stop the fate. Success is talent (strength) + hard work + indispensable opportunity. The liar has been in the gangster circle for decades, the mayor has been in the political arena for decades, and the last one enters the palace of happiness and the other goes to prison. It has nothing to do with strength and diligence, but with opportunity. God sneezed that day, seeing that the mayor was upset, so he said: Scrap him! If you are really unfortunate enough to be targeted by God, how can you please God to make him change his target? I'm sorry, let's go to heaven and study again.

From a moral point of view, the protagonist trio did something immoral. In my opinion, even if it is to find out the bad guys behind the scenes, even if it is to exercise justice, there should be no unethical methods. Liars and police detectives used deception to deceive other liars. Such absurd plans were doomed to fail from the very beginning, not to mention that they did not deceive the real liars at all, but the deception was so sophisticated that they deceived a bunch of good people. What about the bad guys? There is a reason why bad guys can be top bad guys, what can a small FBI do?

From the philosophical point of view of the golden mean, this film reveals the truth of black and white. When the mayor and the mafia boss greet each other at the same table, such a black-and-white conflict is obvious enough. Forced by survival, forced by life, forced by love, forced by wealth, forced by ideals, in "American Hustle", everyone shows the face of a sinister and cunning liar. But the liar will also be truly moved: when the liar sees the mayor's microwave, his eyes go wide. He suspected it was the mayor's trick, but found no flaws. The liar asked nervously: Is this your gift to me? The mayor said naturally: yes, yes. (This is my second favorite shot in the whole film, and the only shot that conveys a little positive energy. After this, the liar has made up his mind to help the mayor)

Three stars, one for the film itself: the editing is light and loose, I like it; one for the script: it told me some tricks and truths; one for the actors, Batman is still so flexible and Hawkeye is still so handsome.

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Extended Reading

American Hustle quotes

  • Irving Rosenfeld: I'm like the fucking Vietcong, man, all right? I'm in and I'm out. I was there the whole time. You don't know it, all right? That's the fuckin' art of becoming somebody who people can pin their beliefs and their dreams on.

  • [last lines]

    Irving Rosenfeld: We took down some very big guys. Some of whom, they were just doing business as usual, helping their communities or their states, but some of them knew they had larceny in their blood, and they even admitted it. But in all, it was six congressmen, one United States senator, and my friend Carmine Polito. We gave the two million back, so that Carmine got a reduced sentence, 18 months. The loss of his friendship would haunt me the rest of my life. When the story was written, Richie DiMaso's name was never mentioned. Syd and I, we moved in together. Rosalyn? She would always be interesting. Our conning days were behind us. You can fool yourself for just so long, that your next reinvention you better have your damn feet on the ground. We got a loan from a bank and were able to go gallery-legitimate. The art of survival, is a story that never ends.