American Hustle (2013) (Movie Review)

Dir: David O Russell
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper
Dur: 2 hrs 11 mins
Genre: Drama
Rating: 1.5/5
PG: There is a semi-nude scene, revealing clothing, quite a bit of swearing and shared kisses.

If I may summarize my feelings about this film in a line it would be: A lot of fuss about nothing. I remember reading a review which said that the movie is really good and a lot of other blah blah… The only thing I would agree with is the good performances of the cast. Besides the acting there is little else the film has to offer. It’s all American sans any hustle.

The plot is a bit winding and after a while you begin to feel like not so much drawn into its intriguing vortex as much as sucked into it only to be spit out later all high and dry. Many reviewers especially Americans heaped a lot of praise on the film but as I said earlier, it does seem misplaced to me. The story revolves around a conman, Irving (Christian Bale) and his paramour played by Amy Adams, who are in cahoots with an undercover agent (Bradley Cooper). They swim through the rough seas of mafia and underworld nexuses and try to keep their minds, hearts and bodies in one piece despite their obvious inadequacies. Cheating, duping, lying… all seems so natural. There is hardly a hint of remorse… and yet it’s not thrilling at all.


Jennifer Lawrence plays the unbalanced wife really well. Not that the other lead cast were far behind. Direction wasn’t the strong point of the film despite the opinion of many. This however, is not a film I would recommend.

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