If You Like Film Noir Genre Films...

Rating: 10/10 (22 March 2014)

What makes this film unique and memorable is the irrepressible flaws of each character. Following the cues of classic film noir movies, American Hustle is a character study of people who only survive. There are no heroes that rise from the ashes. There are no protagonists in this film excepting a distorted sense of justice.
Viewers watching this film hoping for a "feel good" ending will be lost and disappointed. There is wonderful humor in the film all designed to make us laugh at ourselves as a broken culture struggling through the '70's. We are reminded of the ludicrous "tweener" era between the rebellious-for-a-cause '60's and the back-to-conservative-values of the '80's.