Director: David O. Russell
Writers: Eric Singer, David O. Russell
Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K.
Runtime: 138 mins.
2013
American Hustle lives in the endlessly entertaining realm of smart cinema, breezing past clever and falling short of intelligent. It never even brushes its gaudy sleeves against profound, but the good thing is it never tries.
Our heroes are Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), lovers and small-time con artists who get nabbed by F.B.I. agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). They make a deal to participate in a sting that, thanks to DiMaso's wild and dangerous impulses for glory, spirals into a situation too big for our savvy con artists to handle. Irving's ditzy, manipulative wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) is a wild card who only complicates matters. Through all of this, the characters struggle to find something real and genuine in love and friendship despite the constant subterfuge. But the plot isn't really what's important here.
