Disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (12 December 2013)

Let me say at the outset that I am at odds with the majority of critics and IMDb reviewers to date in that I thought that American Hustle was an ordinary movie. It's not that I didn't want to enjoy it. I really like Christian Bale and Amy Adams, I think that Jennifer Lawrence is destined to become the best actress of her generation and I like Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Robert de Niro. From a cast level, I wanted it to succeed.
Perhaps my mistake was in viewing it as a drama. True, there were some humorous lines but I thought that essentially the movie aimed at the dramatic, with some violent scenes adding weight to that view. Now I find out from the Golden Globe nominations that it was a musical or comedy. (The soundtrack was good, so maybe the nominators have viewed it as a musical??)
Seriously, though, I was expecting more action. I thought that the movie was too long and some scenes were far too tedious, and as a result I became bored. In addition, I didn't much care what happened to any of the seedy characters, which added to my level of apathy.
I am out of step with the majority, as I have admitted, but I felt that the alternative view deserved to be aired.