It looks right, but its just about average

Rating: 6/10 (1 January 2014)

First of all, Mr. Russell can come up with some dazzling dialogue, and he can stretch an idea quite a bit. For a moment I was wondering if Peter Jackson was around. Russell gives us a caper where double-crossing and outsmarting other people is the main idea. This has always been a sure way to entertain people. Look at "Clue", "A Fish Called Wanda", "Deathtrap", and a few other classic examples, which were hilarious, engaging, and stood up because they had novel approach. In the case of "Hustle", the performers, with a couple of exceptions, are doing excellent work. The feel of the 70's is there. You can almost smell the polyester and the hairspray, and this film should carry a warning for the scary and extravagant hairdo's most of the leading actors are saddled with.
It would be difficult to summarize the plot, except that the key word is one couple tries to pull scam after scam, only to encounter an ambitious and overzealous FBI agent who gets involved and seduced by the others' ideas, overwhelmed by his own goals, and gets stuck in the middle of some very passionate love affairs. If this isn't enough, why not mix in the mafia, some office conflicts, some Italian tempers, a touch of Middle East stereotyping, and in what has to be the worst lack of imagination bring in two actors who are so overexposed, they only help detract from this convoluted mess.
Yes, there are some memorable moments, and this is because sometimes the film falls into the episodic trap. Here is the unstable and lonely wife, who doesn't understand the intensity of her personality. Lawrence is wonderful inhabiting the character and showing her talents will keep on growing. Here she's vulnerable and a little scary because of her impulsive nature. Cooper surprises with his physical comedy and outrageous reactions, and an couple of funny scenes with Louis C.K., once again a series of sketches that could fit in a 70's comedy show, but are kind of bumps in the narrative here. The biggest pleasure in the movie is Christian Bale, who transforms himself again, but unlike so many performers who believe a physical makeover is enough to be recognized as "remarkable performance", gives us a complex and touching turn, as he is able to express a range of emotions that go from pride to complete devastation. He says more with his eyes than our uncredited performer has done through his entire career, not even the "hairdo" help because he went back to the same mannerisms and facial expressions.
In the end, I was hoping for another "Notebook", but it didn't happen. The promise was there, but the ambition, like one of the main characters' killed whatever potential it had. I guess we've been "hustled".