American Hustle Leaves a Lot to be Desired

Rating: 5/10 (2 January 2014)

David O. Russell's American Hustle is one of those films that leaves you expecting more. This expectation is severely inflated by the critical acclaim it is receiving. It is one of those movies that leaves you thinking "maybe I just don't get it." American Hustle takes place at the end of the 1970s, and I supposed if you remember that time period fondly you may enjoy American Hustle for the nostalgia aspect. It's a nice vehicle for the A-list cast to do their thing, and if all you want is to see Christian Bale et. al. having a good time, then you'll probably enjoy the movie.
American Hustle is not a bad movie. It is technically proficient. It even has a really neat visual effect that takes place at a dry cleaner with the characters framed by spinning laundry. Story-wise however, it is a very standard, by-the-numbers movie.
Stop reading here if you don't want SPOILERS Although, there's really nothing to spoil.
The rest of the review may be found at Sacramentopress.com