American Hustle 10 Year Anniversary Steelbook 4K Review

When one hears the word hustle, many ideas can pop into one's mind.  Hustle could be a dance craze that was popular in the 1970s disco era, a scam perpetrated by one or more unlawful individuals, or mean hurrying along to one's destination.  Looking the word up on the internet yields the following, "1) to proceed or work rapidly or energetically; The sisters hustled about, putting the house in order.  2) to push or force one's way, jostle or shove. 3) to be aggressive, especially in business or other financial dealings.  Ironically, all three meanings are fitting to describe the 2013 David O. Russell film, American Hustle.

Based on the real-life, 1970s, FBI sting operation called ABSCAM, the movie tells the story of con artists Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale; The Dark Knight) and Sydney Prosser/Lady Edith Greensly (Amy Adams; Man of Steel) who, after being caught by the FBI, agree to work with agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper; Maestro) and play a role in capturing crooked politicians.  However, when the ruse becomes more and more elaborate Rosenfeld and Prosser find themselves as pawns in a dangerous game including Mafia involvement-needing to find a way out of their mess, the two plot a scam.

Russell has a reputation for making Oscar-worthy films and creating complex and deeply emotional characters.  It is no surprise therefore that he could assemble a cast of Oscar-nominated actors and American Hustle is chock full of them.  From Bale, Adams, and Cooper to Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Lining's Playbook) and Jeremy Renner (The Avengers), there is excellence at every turn, which makes American Hustle so good.  Each actor gives a masterful performance, and they complement each other beautifully. 

Besides the talent in front of the camera, there is also a great team behind the scenes. The sets and costumes are also impressive, fully enveloping the actors in, not only,  clothing and hairstyles of that era but also surrounding them with furniture, vehicles, and guns that were authentic to the 1970's.

The transfer to Dolby Vision is a nice upgrade with no artifacting present.  Lines are clean, colors are strong, even though the whole film has a slight golden tinge to it, and details, especially fabrics, are sharp.  In one of the dry-cleaning scenes, Bale points out a sequined dress with intense colors and incredibly outlines each sequin individually.

The Dolby Atmos audio compliments the video upgrade nicely.  Dialogue is crisp while the multilayered soundtrack benefits from the uptick in quality.  The driving beat of disco music lays the foundation for a heated and sultry scene between Cooper's and Adams' characters.

Besides the striking black and gold steelbook casing this release includes the 4K and Blu-ray Discs and a digital download. The biggest disappointment of this 10th-anniversary steelbook release is the extras.  There are 15 minutes of new deleted and extended scenes, the theatrical trailer on the 4K disc, and the previously released extras on the Blu-ray which totals 20 minutes of footage.  Those include deleted and extended scenes and The Making of American Hustle.  

Through a fictitious story, American Hustle is based on reality, making it more interesting than if it had been completely made up.  The scariest part is that, not only did it happen in the past but it easily could and probably is still happening to some extent today.  

There is a reason American Hustle was nominated for ten Academy Awards.  From acting to directing and costumes to sets, it offers the total package for filmmaking.  It is an interesting and entertaining film that deserves all the praise it has received and deserves this stunning 10th-anniversary steelbook release.

Grade: A-