American Hustle True Story: 8 Biggest Changes To The Abscam Scandal

American Hustle was based on a true story, but many details were changed to keep the film interesting. David O. Russel’s 2013 drama was based on the FBI Abscam operation in the 1970s, an undercover investigation to uncover political corruption. The film begins with a disclaimer stating, “some of this actually happened,” informing audiences that American Hustle is not entirely factual. Despite some made-up elements, the film received critical acclaim upon release and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including the coveted Best Picture award. American Hustle also won three BAFTA awards and three Golden Globes.

The 2013 film stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence as its main characters. Bale’s character Irving Rosenfeld and Adams’ Sydney Prosser work together, selling fake artwork and involving themselves in other scams. Sydney is posing as an English aristocrat named Lady Edith Greensly, but FBI agent Richie DiMasio catches the two. The agent agrees to let them off the hook if Irving helps him make four other arrests. Together they set up a sting operation to take down New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito and expose several other congress members.

All Names Were Changed For The American Hustle Movie

For legal reasons, American Hustle changes all the names of its real-life characters. Bale’s Irvin was based on Mel Weinberg, Sydney was based on Evelyn Knight, Lawrence’s character, and Irvin’s wife Rosalyn was based on Mel’s wife, Cynthia Marie Weinberg. The New Jersey politician was also based on a real-life person named Angelo Errichetti. The characters’ appearances also greatly differ, which was likely just because filmmakers wanted recognizable faces in American Hustle to draw in a large audience, whether they looked like real-life inspirations or not.

Weinberg & Knight Were Sentenced To Prison Before The FBI Approached Them

One of American Hustle’s biggest changes is letting Irving and Sydney off the hook immediately. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out so well for Weinberg and Knight. Politico reports that the two were originally sentenced to three years in prison for their crimes. Then, the FBI approached them and rewarded them parole if they helped him in the Abscam operation. Ultimately, the two didn’t have to serve three years in prison, but it’s still an important detail that American Hustle chose not to include in the film, likely to move the story along faster.

Evelyn Knight Was Actually English In Real Life

In American Hustle, Sydney is from Albuquerque but poses as an English aristocrat named Lady Edith Greensly. Richie knows that Sydney isn’t an aristocrat, but he believes that she is English until the end of the film when he confesses his feelings for her, and she turns him down, revealing that she’s American. In real life, the story is a bit different. Knight is from England but pretends to be a wealthy woman, and Weinberg presents her as Lady Evelyn Knight.

Related: Amy Adams: 10 Best Movies (According To IMDb)

There Was No Love Triangle Between Irving, Sydney, and Richie

In American Hustle, Irving is married to Rosalyn but develops feelings for Sydney, who also wants to be with him. The only thing preventing him from leaving Rosalyn and marrying Sydney is he’s Rosalyn’s son’s adoptive father, and he doesn’t want to abandon his son or lose his right to see him. At the same time, Richie is also in love with Sydney. Sydney entertains Richie’s feelings throughout the film but doesn’t want to be with him. In real life, this never happened. Weinberg and Knight married in 1982 and divorced 16 years later, but Knight never had a romantic relationship with one of the FBI agents on the case.

Evelyn Wasn’t As Involved In The Crimes As In American Hustle

Knight was not innocent and was arrested with Weinberg when they were charged with fraud and conspiracy. However, she wasn’t as involved in Weinberg’s crimes as Adams’ character is. Weinberg used Knight as a ploy in his cons, while the film shows Sydney and Irving working together to scam people. Knight likely did not have as much knowledge of the situation as Sydney did and didn’t have as much of a say in their crimes. American Hustle shows Irving praising Sydney for how helpful she’s been and how intelligent she is in coming up with ideas, but Knight doesn’t have this much influence on the situation.

Angelo Errichett Was More Corrupt Than Carmine Polito

American Hustle got a lot about Jeremy Renner’s character right. He was a very well-liked man who did many great things for his community. According to the Observer, Camden Mayor Dana Redd, who served from 2010 to 2018, said she had no plans to see American Hustle because she respected Angelo Errichett and all the good he did for the city. However, what the film got wrong was painting Errichett as a mostly innocent man when he is more corrupt in real life. American Hustle suggests Carmine’s illegal actions were an effort to create jobs for Camden residents and build up the city. However, his real-life motives were rooted in greed.

Payoffs Didn’t Happen At The Plaza Like In American Hustle

Much of the 2013 film takes place at the luxurious New York City hotel, The Plaza. However, this wasn’t the case in the real life operation. The actual payoffs took place at other hotels, ones that were less luxurious than The Plaza. This makes a lot more sense since it would draw less attention to the operation than if they were doing business at the expensive and well-known building. Payments also took place at a townhouse in Washington DC which the FBI rented.

Bradley Cooper’s American Hustle Character Was Based Off Various FBI Agents

Cooper played the sole FBI agent working with Irving and Sydney as he fell for Irving’s partner in crime. However, Richie was based on more than one FBI agent involved in the operation. The Washington Post reports that Richie was based on John Good, Tony Amoroso, and Jack McCarthy, and others. However, he seems to be most closely based on Amoroso as he shares the most characteristics. To keep American Hustle from getting too messy, they combined the agents into one character, which Cooper played brilliantly.

Hollywood is known for changing details in films based on real stories, whether for legal reasons or simply to make the film more entertaining. Though some real-lifeAmerican Hustle details probably should have made it into the movie.

Sources: Politico, Observer, The Washington Post