Columbia Pictures via Everett Collection
Why aren’t we hearing more about Amy Adams? She was stone-cold phenomenal in American Hustle. The buzz surrounding Jennifer Lawrence has been huge, and this isn’t to say it wasn’t merited, I’m just surprised that Adams doesn’t seem to be garnering as much hype or nominations. While Lawrence is nominated in the supporting actress category in all the big award shows so far, it looks like Adams got snubbed by SAG. And actors usually know what’s up! Guess it is a tough category, what with Judi Dench, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Cate Blanchett, and Sandra Bullock all in the running.
I don’t want to say who I’d want to bump (shh, it’s Meryl Streep), but the fact of the matter is, Adams played Sydney Prosser/Edith Greensly to a T. If Lawrence’s big scene is the bathroom showdown/spiteful kiss, Adams’ MVP moment is the deployment of her Irving (Christian Bale) and DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) scam-within-a-scam. She slips from Sydney to Edith (and American accent to affected British accent) instant-to-instant as easily as if it were one of her generously besequined slinky gowns, leaving us (and Irving) breathless and dizzy. As she explains that she will con DiMaso we can’t quite be sure if she’s conning Irving, DiMaso, or both – she keeps everyone on their toes, that’s for certain. She also brings a beautiful depth to Sydney: Sydney’s acid stares at Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) are tempered with a surprising sense of sadness and longing.
Oh, and let’s not forget: the Sydney/Rosalyn kiss was her brainchild. So we have her to thank for that.
