An Enjoyable Evening of Entertainment that requires one to think

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2013)

I just saw this movie tonight and I found it very enjoyable. I knew it was about people playing con games, and from the one or two previews I saw, I suspected it was sort of an updated version of The Sting, which was a movie that required the viewer if he/she really wanted to enjoy it, to actually think about it. I spent most the movie trying to figure out who was hustling who and how far would each go. I knew specifically that Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence were in it, but I didn't think about Christian Bale until about 15 minutes into the movie, that's how well into his role he was. He reminded me of a few other actors who with the right makeup and wardrobe sort of look like that, Paul Rudd for one. I found Jennifer Lawrence's character to be highly enjoyable. I was also very appreciative to see both Jack Jones and Anthony Zerbe having small roles in this movie as the major part of their careers took place in this era. It added a sense of understanding by the director/producers to the movie, to reach out to an audience who lived through it. A couple of drawbacks, Amy Adams hair was not 70/80's in the least except for one scene. The movie was probably about 20 minutes too long and some of the flashbacks (partial spoiler) such as the one where Bradley Cooper actually beat up his boss, could have easily been deleted. It added nothing to the movie except time. I will probably see it several times when it comes to cable. My wife and our friends also enjoyed it.