American Hustle

I feel cheated. The film lured me in by assembling some of my favorite actors. I watched more than two hours of a boring attempt at Ocean's Eleven from the 70s. The intention of the filmmakers fell completely flat, I was bored. Plus, it was obvious from the start how the whole spectacle would turn out. I’m giving two stars for Christian Bale's comb-over and Bradley Cooper's hair curlers. (2017-01-01)

A retro farce with great costumes that nonetheless unfolds at a sluggish pace and is full of actors showing off unnecessarily. I consider American Hustle far from masterfully directed. On the contrary, at such a slow pace, it is striking that the ambitious plot disintegrates in the tangle of character motivations that got out of hand. But would you do any better if there was a scantily clad Amy Adams prancing around your set? The acting performances are fantastic, however. Christian Bale tries hard, but Jennifer Lawrence turns in the best performance here. Amy Adams is super-hot (let’s be honest – would you be able to restrain yourself in the bathroom scene?) and the icing on the cake is the unexpected Mr. “XY” from Miami in the best mafia role in recent memory. With his appearance, the pace picks up a little. The nomination for best film and director was probably secured by Bale’s necklace. (2014-01-27)

Funny, I never noticed that Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence have such amazingly sexy breasts. And I had no idea that it was their image that must have been the most intrusive to the academics when putting together the Oscar nominations. How else can you explain that this is supposed to be the best film in a year that also gave us the privilege of seeing such cinematic gems as Gravity, Captain Phillips and Prisoners? Perhaps it's stylish in its attempt to mix pop culture dialogue and arthouse retro gangster, perhaps it's superbly acted by a group of stars who parody themselves so nicely with incredible verve (except for Cooper – he plays his standard), and maybe I don't even regret waiting patiently for the expected hectic conclusion, but neither of the aforementioned pluses (not even the boobs) can elevate American Hustle to the level of a film worthy of such Oscar attention. And paradoxically, everything here is visibly focused on material awards – it’s not for nothing that they say that less is sometimes more. 65% (2014-02-28)

We weren’t wrong about David O. Russel the first time. American Hustle wants to be a refreshing, engaging and vibrant gangster movie and manages it quite well. At times, it tries too hard, especially with the at times surprisingly and intentionally weird behaviour of some of the characters, but it never gets to the point of bothering me. The performances are superb without exception. It’s delivered as a comedy and I take it as such. This time Russel doesn’t try to unsuccessfully portray romantic relationships or social conflicts, which I take it as a plus. For me, good fun and satisfaction. (2014-01-05)

A little bit too overcomplicated, definitely. But David O. Russell played with every little detail and chose great actors for the main roles. Bale is great in an untraditional (obese) role, but the fact that it’s good is thanks to the team work where everybody does they are meant to and the result speaks for itself. It’s not Oscar material, but it’s still a great fun without trying too much, jokes firing away throughout the whole movie. Incredible costumes. (2014-03-02)