New on DVD/VOD

Randall King By: Randall King Posted:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

American Hustle

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/03/2014 (4566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

American Hustle

Could it be that American Hustle is director David O. Russell’s homage to the grand scam movie The Sting?

The dynamic is the same, given that the film centres on a seedy grifter and his beautiful young novice. Instead of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, we get Christian Bale and Amy Adams as, respectively, con artist Irving Rosenfeld, and his mistress/partner/soulmate Sydney Prosser.

CP American Hustle
CP American Hustle

The two enjoy a life of modest wealth and gaudy fashion in the late ’70s as a result of miscellaneous art and finance scams. But they themselves are scammed by Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), an ambitious FBI agent who arrests Sydney as the opening gambit of a bigger game. He wants to employ the couple to realize a scheme that will net some high-profile government officials that may be willing to exchange favours for money.

That game-plan takes them into the orbit of Camden, N.J., mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), a politician on a legitimate mission to invigorate his economically depressed community with the potential gold mine of legalized gambling.

Based on the real-life Abscam affair, the scheme has unforeseen complications: Irving is nearly immobilized by guilt when he realizes his mission will destroy the decent, good-hearted Polito. DiMaso presents as a ruthless lawman but is driven by need, either for advancement (pitting him against a glum superior, played beautifully by comedian Louis C.K.) or for an unhealthy attraction to Sydney.

The wild card in all this is Irving’s estranged wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), enlisted to socialize with the Politos. Selfish and self-absorbed, Rosalyn may have been written as an avatar of the Me Generation, but Lawrence invests her with a ferocious Brooklyn charm, which explains how Rosalyn managed to ensnare a guy would should know a con when he sees one.

American Hustle didn’t get any of the Oscar love bequeathed on The Sting back in 1974, but for my money, it was the best film of the year. 4 stars

Frozen

Even a visually dazzling Disney film might be a tough sell for audiences for whom the word “frozen” offers no escapist connotations.

Be assured, it’s not a documentary about Winnipeg’s endless winter of 2013. It’s about a sorceress-princess who accidentally puts her kingdom in a deep freeze. Mitigating the content: snow and ice has never looked more beautiful onscreen.

Like The Little Mermaid, Frozen is a loose adaptation of a story by Hans Christian Andersen. Young princess Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) has been obliged to live in isolation in her castle with her elder sister Elsa (Idina Menzel). Anna doesn’t know it, but Elsa is the reason for the enforced solitude. Elsa is a sorceress capable of conjuring elaborate ice formations with a flick of her wrists. When her secret is uncovered during her coronation as queen, Elsa accidentally puts the entire kingdom in a deep freeze and exiles herself to a nearby mountaintop. It falls on little sister Anna to take on a mission to find Elsa and try to reverse the magic.

The animation here is truly stunning. For comedy, there’s the character of Olaf (Josh Gad), a living snowman, created as a childhood playmate for Elsa and Anna and now a plucky partner on Anna’s mission.

The musical aspect of the show constitutes Frozen’s most salient weakness. The songs by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez occasionally deliver full impact, especially in the Oscar-winning song Let It Go, sung by Menzel with the same empowered intensity the actress brought to the showstopper Defying Gravity in the Broadway musical Wicked. Otherwise, the songs tend to be more poppy than the enduring Broadway-like songbooks of Disney musicals past.

The Blu-ray DVD includes the delightful animated short Get a Horse and a doc about how Frozen is the culmination of a 75-year-old plan to make a movie of the Andersen story hearkening back to Walt Disney himself. 3-1/2 stars

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Randall King

Randall King
Writer

Randall King writes about film for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Randall King

Randall King
Writer

Randall King writes about film for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

ROBERT LEE / FREE PRESS FILES During the first eight months of 2026 Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews were dispatched a combined 1,771 times to the two Siloam Mission properties at 303 Stanley St. and 300 Princess St.

Siloam Mission, WFPS discussing on-site paramedic to reduce staggering number of emergency calls

Scott Billeck 4 minute read Preview

Siloam Mission, WFPS discussing on-site paramedic to reduce staggering number of emergency calls

Scott Billeck 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Winnipeg’s fire-paramedic service and its largest homeless-serving organization are discussing what it would look like to station at least one paramedic at Siloam Mission, as emergency calls to the downtown facility surge.

The ongoing discussions come as Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews were dispatched 1,771 times during the first eight months of the year to the two adjacent Siloam properties at 303 Stanley St. and 300 Princess St.

WFPS said most of the calls were related to overdoses or other consequences of substance use, with the total nearly double the 854 calls recorded over the same period last year. By comparison, there were 831 calls during the same span in 2024, and 591 in 2023.

“The number of emergency calls isn’t sustainable for us as a service, but it’s certainly not sustainable for them as an agency trying to provide services,” WFPS chief Ryan Sneath told the Free Press. “And they recognize that they’re impacting emergency services, not them specifically, but the site in a significant way.”

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES New polling data shows 55 per cent of decided voters favour incumbent mayor Scott Gillingham compared to 23 per cent for Kevin Klein and 11 per cent for Mike Vogiatzakis.

Gillingham in lead with decided voters

Nicole Buffie 6 minute read Preview

Gillingham in lead with decided voters

Nicole Buffie 6 minute read Yesterday at 6:55 PM CDT

A cloud of uncertainty is hanging over Winnipeg as October’s municipal election nears.

Three months after a poll showed more than 40 per cent of Winnipeggers wanted to see someone other than current mayor Scott Gillingham elected, a new Abacus Data poll indicates more than half of Winnipeg voters are undecided heading into next month’s civic election.

Of decided voters, 55 per cent favour Gillingham compared to 23 per cent for former councillor and provincial cabinet minister Kevin Klein and 11 per cent for funeral director Mike Vogiatzakis.

Of all respondents, just over 50 per cent said they were unsure while 13 per cent said they will not vote.

Read
Yesterday at 6:55 PM CDT
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Premier Wab Kinew: “We heard from Manitobans loud and clear — no more changing the clocks in Manitoba.”

Manitoba abandoning spring, fall clock changes

Carol Sanders 8 minute read Preview

Manitoba abandoning spring, fall clock changes

Carol Sanders 8 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:48 AM CDT

Time’s up for the time change in Manitoba.

Manitobans won’t be setting their clocks back an hour in November. The province has decided to permanently stay on daylight time after surveying residents on the twice annual clock adjustment.

“We heard from Manitobans loud and clear — no more changing the clocks in Manitoba,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a news release Thursday.

Most of the 72,000 votes submitted in an online EngageMB survey — 92 per cent — said they would like to see the practice end. The survey asked if they preferred earlier sunrises in winter with standard time or the later sunsets in summer with daylight time. More than half of survey participants (58 per cent) indicated a preference to stay on permanent daylight time; 34 per cent voted to eliminate the time change but stay on standard time.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 8:48 AM CDT
(Winnipeg Free Press)

A quick look at where provinces and territories stand on time changes

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

A quick look at where provinces and territories stand on time changes

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:28 AM CDT

WINNIPEG - Manitoba's government said Thursday the province will be sticking with daylight time year-round, making it the latest jurisdiction to move away from twice-annual time changes. Here's a look at where things stand across Canada:

British Columbia said in March that it was moving to permanent Pacific daylight time. The change also means that parts of northeastern B.C., which have been on mountain standard time year round, are now in alignment with the rest of the province.

Alberta also switched to permanent daylight time this year in what it calls Alberta time. The change means it now has the same time as Saskatchewan year round.

Saskatchewan has been on permanent central standard time since 1966.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 6:28 AM CDT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES President Donald Trump (left) shares a moment with Prime Minister Mark Carney last year. Even if Canada expands its trade with other countries — which it must do — the United States will almost certainly remain Canada’s most important trading partner.

Canada-U.S. trade relationship is broken, but the damage can — and will — be repaired

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

Canada-U.S. trade relationship is broken, but the damage can — and will — be repaired

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Thursday, Sep. 17, 2026

Canada needs to get serious about diversifying its trade beyond the United States. But at the same time, Canadians should expect relations with the U.S. to normalize after Donald Trump is no longer in the White House.

For generations, Canada-U.S. trade was considered almost a fact of geography. The two countries share the world’s longest undefended border, deeply integrated supply chains and a century of commercial relationships.

Canadian manufacturers depend on American customers. American manufacturers depend on Canadian suppliers. Energy, agriculture, automotive production and countless other industries operate across the border as though it barely exists.

That isn’t going to change dramatically, even in the midst of a bitter trade war unleashed by the U.S. president.

Read
Thursday, Sep. 17, 2026
PHIL HOSSACK / FREE PRESS files PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - Wine Connoisseurs by the thousands lined up filed in and bellied up to the tasting tables at the Annual Winnipeg Wine Festival Friday night. STAND UP, see release. - May 3, 2019.

Cabernet Sauvignon star of wine festival

Ben Sigurdson 5 minute read Preview

Cabernet Sauvignon star of wine festival

Ben Sigurdson 5 minute read 3:00 AM CDT

The Winnipeg Wine Festival will celebrate the king of red wine grapes next weekend — the theme of this year’s festival, which takes place Sept. 25 and 26 at the RBC Convention Centre, is Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cab Sauv, as it’s also known, is the world’s most widely planted wine grape of any colour, first coming to prominence in the 1800s in France’s Bordeaux region, where the grape is still popular. Rather than single-variety wines, Bordeaux reds tend to be blends, with those coming from the left bank of the Gironde estuary being Cabernet-dominant, while right-bank wines are Merlot-dominant, with Cabernet Sauvignon playing a supporting role. Cabernet and Merlot work well together and many other countries have followed suit in blending the two.

A team at University of California Davis put Cabernet Sauvignon through a DNA test in 1996 and discovered its parent grapes are Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc — it’s likely that at some point the two varieties, planted next to each other in some vineyard, crossed and mutated and became the grape we know today. (Someone growing grapes in the 19th century must have had an inkling of what was up, as the grape has been called Cabernet Sauvignon since long before the DNA test.)

Flavour-wise, most Cabernet Sauvignon wines are big and bold, with a core of deep dark berry flavours, some graphite and spice notes and relatively bright acidity. It’s a grape that is well-suited to barrel aging, with most examples seeing at least some time in wood.

Read
3:00 AM CDT