Albert R. Hunt, Columnist

'American Hustle' Is Better Than the Real Story

"American Hustle," which may be the best two hours you'll spend at the movies, sets the stage with its opening: "Some of this actually happened."

December 31, 2013 at 5:17 PM UTC

By Albert R. Hunt

Albert R. Hunt is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was the executive editor of Bloomberg News, before which he was a reporter, bureau chief and executive Washington editor at the Wall Street Journal.

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"American Hustle," which may be the best two hours you'll spend at the movies, sets the stage with its opening: "Some of this actually happened."

The film is loosely based on the 1980 Abscam scandal, which resulted in the conviction of a U.S. senator and six members of Congress. "American Hustle" is engagingly brilliant; the scandal, and the actions of the government back then, was disturbing.