Excruciatingly bad

Rating: 2/10 (10 December 2014)

Never before has a cinema visit made me want to physically hurt myself.
For two and a half bum-numbing hours I sat, jaw clenched, temples twitching as this loud, obnoxious farce of a film clattered along, all the while thinking 'how the hell did THIS get nominated for several Oscars?'.
The entire running time of "American Hustle" can pretty much be summarized as a collection of vignettes in which you have spoiled, nasty, unlikable characters shouting and bickering at each other hysterically over absolutely nothing. It is the epitome of a current trend in American films to fill time with yappy, antagonistic improv in a shallow attempt to create tension and humour without actually furthering the plot or the characters.
Some of the dramatic mood shifts feel so forced and poorly developed, for example, the bitchy bathroom exchange between Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams that ends in a totally contrived and bizarre lesbian kiss, clearly put in for shock value.
Equally shallow is the film's treatment of it's female characters, Adams in particular. Her every turn to camera is frozen in a glacial-eyed expression as though she's being photographed for the cover of Vogue. The camera zooms in and out of her gaping cleavage like a horny fly. In one scene, Bradley Cooper forces her into a toilet cubicle and gropes her ass, while she stands pert like a porn star, the camera leering up her skirt. It's cringe-worthy.
Hardest to bare was Bradley Cooper, easily the loudest and most manic of the lot. Every scene with him just made me want to wring his neck. Perhaps the only saving grace is Jennifer Lawrence, mainly there for comedic value, she goes full pelt and is fun to watch, but I wasn't convinced by her relationship with Bale's character or her vulnerability.
There is so little emotional weight to this film. No matter how hard the characters screamed, grimaced and cried, I didn't believe or care about any of it. I was emotionally numb. It felt like watching a bunch of teenagers playing dress up and pretending to be edgy and adult. Flashy costumes and atrocious wigs, hiding nothing of substance.
Easily one of the most over-rated Oscar nominated films since "Crash".