SAMPLE SYNOPSIS: AMERICAN HUSTLE
Academy Award-nominated director David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter) re-teams with Academy Award winning actors Christian Bale (The Fighter, The Dark Knight) and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, Winter’s Bone) in American Hustle, a high-stakes crime thriller based on the true-life exploits of legendary conman Melvin Weinberg. Also starring Academy Award nominees Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, The Hangover), Amy Adams (The Master, The Fighter), Jeremy Renner (The Town, The Hurt Locker), Louie C.K. ("Louie") and Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook, Limitless), the film riffs on the true story of Abscam, the FBI’s notorious 1970s – ’80s undercover sting operation to ensnare corrupt politicians and gangsters.
Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) is a master of deception. The loan firm he runs with his lover and apprentice-in-crime, Sydney Prosser (Adams), is a slick scam that nets thousands from unsuspecting businessmen—money Rosenfeld uses to support his wife, Rosalyn (Lawrence), and beloved son, Danny. But when rogue FBI Agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper) catches the couple in a sting, Rosenfeld come face to face with the prospect of losing everything he has worked for, including his family. But DiMaso offers Rosenfeld an out: use his powers of deception to help the FBI bust four white-collar crooks, and he and Sydney will walk.
Rosenfeld reluctantly agrees and devises a scheme to snare the first target—Camden, New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito (Renner). The plan is simple, theatrical and, as it turns out, irresistible: create a fictional Middle Eastern sheik, spread the word that he wants to invest his fabulous wealth in business ventures in Atlantic City, and wait for the flies to come to the honey-pot. And what flies show up, as the scam succeeds beyond the Feds’ wildest dreams. With agents posing as the sheik and his entourage, the scam snares not just Polito, but a who’s-who of corrupt officials looking for easy money, including a U.S. Senator and several Congressmen.
But doing business with the Atlantic City power-brokers inevitably means working with the mobsters who control the gambling industry. Chief among these is Victor Tellegio (DeNIro)—a mob boss who happens to be fluent in Arabic due to owning casinos in the Middle East. And when Tellegio smells a rat, Rosenfeld finds himself and his family suddenly vulnerable. With the Feds unable to assure his safety, and Rosalyn driven into the arms of one of Tellegio's goons by her husband's infidelity, it could be curtains for Rosenfeld—unless he can pull off one final scam to save the day.