Entertaining but highly over-rated

Rating: 6/10 (24 April 2014)

After finally watching American Hustle I just had to look up the meaning of the word "overrate" and this is what I found -
1. have a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved. "an overrated player" synonyms: assess too highly, overestimate, overvalue, rate/prize too highly, think too much of, exaggerate the worth of, attach too much importance to; praise too highly, exaggerate the merits of, over-praise, oversell, glorify, magnify; informalblow up; rareover-prize "it is easy to overrate what Frederick achieved" antonyms: underrate, underestimate
Much of what you see above you is a perfect summation of what American Hustle is, a film overrated to the point of complete saturation. Upon release critics and audiences alike were swept away in a frenzy of hype for a movie that, while highly enjoyable in many respects, is also completely and utterly unmemorable and way tpo self assured to ever become anything more than a slight Hollywood romp.
David O. Russell is a director who in recent years has found favour where once he had mere art-house aficionados. Hustle, much like his previous and even more offensively overrated Silver Linings Playbook saw the director strike awards gold and box office gold with a story and script that wafts in it's own importance. Much was said about just how witty and biting the dialogue in Hustle is but personally I felt it's nothing more than a sneaky smile inducing type of event. Russell seems to have said to the cast "speak loud, fast and at times mumble" as much of what is said on screen is done in such an over the top, unbelievable way that its hard to see these characters as real people or in fact care for them and their various plights, and that's where the film falters above all else.
The lead characters in the piece, Irving and Sydney, are well played by Bale and Adams, with Adams in particular the most worthy of the critical lauding the ensemble received. Bradley Cooper, who is once again cast in a role that feels like a different take on the same character, is nothing more than annoying while Lawrence has moments of both averageness and softly spoken greatness. The story these characters inhabit is such a complicated and murky one that we the audience really needed more to hold onto to carry us through, but you'd be hard pressed to care whether they succeed or fail with such an unlovable bunch; in the end it's likely you'll wish you spent more time with Jeremy Renner's mayor than any of these "cons."
It's hard to fathom that Hustle received 10 Oscar nominations this year, but justice was served with it walking away empty handed. Sometimes a film comes along and strikes a cord with a moment in time and that's what Hustle is, a quick con that succeeded at the time yet in time will be quickly forgotten about. It's an enjoyable 2 hours thanks to a intriguing real life scenario and some interesting acting but overall American Hustle is not as cool as it so clearly thinks it is.
3 intense comb-overs out of 5
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