American Hustle (Dir: David O. Russell. 2013)

Summary: A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive British partner, Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso. DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia. 

My partner (James) says I need to put a disclaimer on my reviews to say the following: ‘The views expressed by myself may often disagree with the general public and film critics reviews of the same film.’ Do you think he’s trying to tell me something? So anyway what did I think of the popular, award nominated, critically acclaimed American Hustle?

Firstly did no one wear a bra in the 70s? I seriously haven’t see so many erect nipples since I watched wrestling in my teens! Needless to say I found the lack of undergarments a little distracting from, you know, the important stuff like the frigging acting!

So, ignoring the nips, it started off strong, (who knew Christian Bale could do giddy in love?) but I kept guessing the twists and Bradley Cooper’s (who I normally like) performance was like nails across a chalk board, he just couldn’t seem to pull it off and it really grated on me. It felt like it could have done with a clearer lead character, I couldn’t tell who’s story it was trying to tell, was it Bale, Adams or Cooper, I really couldn’t tell and it kept flitting back and forth. Annoying!

I think the actors all did the best with the material they were given and it could have been a fantastic hour and a half Con/FBI movie but it dragged on and on. It’s obvious that Russell couldn’t decide if he wanted a Scorsese Goodfellas or a Soderbergh Ocean’s Eleven and it probably didn’t help I’d watched the Wolf of Wall Street (review coming soon) directly before American Hustle.

I just think David O. Russell maybe better off sticking with quirky films like Silver Linings Playbook & I Heart Huckabees than his serious offerings such as this and The Fighter…….

Overall: It just felt so very blah and very long blah-fest at that 5/10 

2014 Nominations (Selected)

Academy Awards
Nominated Best Motion Picture, Best Actor: Christian Bale, Best Actress: Amy Adams, Best Supporting Actor: Bradley Cooper, Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design & Best Original Screenplay.

Golden Globes
Won Best Picture (Comedy or Musical), Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Amy Adams & Best supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence.
Nominated Best Actor (Musical or Comedy): Christian Bale, Best Supporting Actor: Bradley Cooper, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

BAFTA Award
Nominated Best Original Screenplay, Best Film, Best Leading Actor: Christian Bale, Best Leading Actress: Amy Adams, Best Supporting Actor: Bradley Cooper, Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Best Production Design, Best Make Up/Hair, Best Costume Design & The David Lean Award for Direction

Screen Actors Guild Awards
Won outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture & Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence

Satellite Awards
Nominated Best Actress: Amy Adams, Best Actor: Christian Bale, Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Best Supporting Actor: Bradley Cooper, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay & Best Film Editing