Possibly overrated, but a brilliant piece of cinema

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2014)

With such a famous cast and with a screenplay that was #8 on the Blacklist, O'Russell certainly had his work cut out for him!
Flared jeans, slinky dresses, elaborate fur coats and wacky glasses launches you back to the 70's, with a backdrop of old school New Jersey and Brooklyn setting the scene. The accents are also on point - Lawrence's American twang and Amy Adams' British tease are brilliant.
With a cast including Batman, Katniss Everdeen and Hawkeye, the bar was certainly set high, but every single actor pulled their weight and transformed themselves into their characters. Literally for Christian Bale's overweight, crazy combovered Irving who packed on the pounds to get into character. All of the actors are as good as the rest, working with each other not to steal the scene or be better than the other. Bale and Adams are brilliantly compatible and Amy's sexiness is finally shown. Cooper is fantastic at getting right into the nitty, gritty part of his character and Lawrence is made for films. She moulds herself to any role, embracing and completely nailing everything she is attached to.
American Hustle is captivating, intelligent and oh so stylish to watch. Worth every nomination it gets.