The True Story Behind ‘American Hustle’

American Hustle is a classic dark comedy starring some of the greatest stars of our time – but is this fiction actually based on a true story? From Christian Bale to Jennifer Lawrence at both her undisputable best and her worst, this movie is full of unforgettable performances. American Hustle begins with quintessential 1970s hits like “A Horse With No Name,” by America, and “Dirty Work” by Steely Dan. For those that were entering adulthood in 2013 with Baby Boomer parents, it seems to capture a moment in time wrought with an irreplaceable feeling of freedom combined with a lack of true responsibility that mirrors the characters of a film whose tagline begins with “Some of this actually happened,” and ends with “This is a work of fiction.” The duality of fact and fiction that sets in from the beginning of the movie then makes you question if the reckless abandon of these people is a thing of real-life or another case of movie magic.

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Is ‘American Hustle’ Based on a True Story?

The simple truth is yes, and no. The truth is that none of the characters from American Hustle actually existed, but were based on real people. The meat of these events really did happen, but some of the more personal details did not. What Russell did in adding some personal details is put the reality of need to the forefront. It is astounding what a human being will do to have their needs fulfilled,

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

and that is the heart of this movie. American Hustle is a tale of corruption, but at its most broken down, basic sense, it is the story of several people that wanted something badly; so badly that it motivated them to commit life-altering crime.

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American Hustle tells the story of con man, Irving Rosenfeld (Bale), who gets caught in one of his schemes, and is then brought on to work with the FBI so that he can keep himself and his mistress, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), out of jail. Prosser then begins a fake relationship with the FBI agent they both work closely with, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), in order to manipulate him. Meanwhile, Rosenfeld attempts to keep his home life in order for the sake of his adopted son, by placating his wife (Lawrence), Rosalyn, despite her unstable tendencies.

Abscam & Mel Weinberg in ‘American Hustle’

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

Abscam or Abdul Scam is the real-life central theme of American Hustle. Abscam was an FBI investigation that would result in nearly twenty convictions of government officials and politicians. Through the use of a hired con man, Melvin Weinberg, whom Irving Rosenfeld is based on, the FBI was able to catch the convicted individuals taking bribes, extortion, and conspiracy.

In the late 1970s, Weinberg was caught conducting an advance fee scam. The premise of this con was pretty straightforward: For the price of $1000 or more, Weinberg would use his “connections” to aid others in securing a loan from an overseas bank. But, the banks and individuals didn’t exist. Weinberg would then apologize to his “clients” and make off with the nonrefundable fee. Evelyn Knight, who Sydney Prosser is based on, and would later be Weinberg’s wife, was part of the scheme. He would call his fraudulent company “London Investors,” a tribute that is paid in the film by Rosenfeld naming his own fraudulent company “London Associates.”

The two were eventually caught, and in exchange for his cooperation, Weinberg was able to avoid going to prison for committing fraud and spare Knight of persecution for their crimes. Essentially, Weinberg was doing for the FBI what he had been doing illegally for years: conning people. As depicted in the film, Weinberg would tell tales of a wealthy sheikh, Kambir Abdul Rahman, who was willing to invest millions into casinos in exchange for U.S. asylum. He would then introduce the “sheikh” to the victims, and the sheikh would offer money or political favors. The sheikh’s themselves were FBI agents. The investigation initially caught criminals or advancing racketeers, but were finally led to mayor Angelo Errichetti, who Jeremy Renner‘s character, Carmine Polito. Errichetti was the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and a state senator; he would eventually lead the FBI to other politicians that were likely to accept a bribe from the fictional skeikh. The FBI was then able to videotape several politicians accepting bribes from the “sheikh.” In 1980, the existence of Abscam was leaked to the media.

Truthfully, Weinberg was not offered a terrible deal. In addition to avoiding prison, Weinberg was able to earn nearly $150,000 in both salary and bonuses. Years later, Weinberg would say that getting caught was the best thing that ever happened to him because it changed the direction his life seemed to be headed in.

Personal Facts ‘American Hustle’ Embellished

To tackle the ending tagline in the film, there were many factors of the film added to tease out the core of the movie. For one, Mel Weinberg was married during Abscam, and did have a mistress, Knight. However, there was never a relationship between Knight and any of the FBI agents who worked on the Abscam case, as there is in the film between Richie DiMaso and Sydney Prosser, even if it is a con. What this does though, is illustrate how far people will go when they want to be with someone, or how far they will go to demand justice for wrongdoings committed against them. This plays out particularly well between Adams, Cooper, and Lawrence’s characters during the mafia scene as their respectively entwined relationships complicate Abscam, and leads to the devolution of DiMaso and Prosser’s personal relationship. Additionally, Weinberg never had a plan to help Angelo Errichetti.

In a case where life may actually be just as crazy as fiction, it seems fabulously unbelievable that these characters should exist. Truthfully, at some of the film’s most dramatic moments, fiction turns out to be just that, fiction. Each person depicted seem out of control at varying levels. While we see a controlled, but dangerous lawlessness in Irving Rosenfeld, we see a completely histrionic daring in his wife.

What American Hustle does beautifully is depict how our motivations may be skewed by pressure or fear, without making us genuinely scared. The result is then the opposite of what is initially though, and it certainly isn’t movie magic at all. The result is a reckless abandon that has nothing to do with freedom, but in fact a disregard for consequence because they realize they may already be screwed.