Entertaining, but so predictable

Rating: 7/10 (17 April 2017)

'American Hustle' tells the story of a pair of con-men induced to help the FBI trap some bigger fish, a shaggy dog story told mostly straight and with some genuinely funny moments. It also features explanatory voice-overs, a heavy (1970s) period soundtrack and a final twist I found underwhelming, to say the least, first of all because if you've seen any conman movies before, the double-cross is only to be expected, but secondly because the film is so obviously playing for entertainment, and makes little attempt to lure the viewer into the trap. And indeed it is entertaining, albeit in a rather predictable way - but it falls well short of the standard of Mamet's 'House of Games', or even 'The Sting'.