Well Acted, Stylish, but Also Self-Indulgent and Disjointed

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2014)

Hype can be a major killer when it comes to movies, and American Hustle is a huge example of this. There was a lot to be excited about here. The cast was huge, with big named, really incredible actors brought on board. It has David O. Russell in the director's chair, coming off his back-to-back critically acclaimed movies "The Fighter" and "Silver Linings Playbook." It has the feel of a Scorsese film, with the music that feels like a throwback to the 70s. And it holds a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes; that alone garners this movie a chance. So why did I walk out of this movie dissatisfied?
Largely it has to do with the overall structure of the movie. It has everything that it needs to put together a fantastic movie, but feels very disjointed, like they didn't know how to put that puzzle together. It also feels like it has a touch of self-indulgence thrown into the mix, like O. Russell wanted to make his own version of Goodfellas, only without the flow and consistency of that film. And ultimately it ends up feeling very jumbled, very inconsistent, and very unsatisfying.
Of course there is still a lot that this movie can be praised for. All the actors do a tremendous job, the two main standouts being Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper. Amy Adams does a good job as well in the main female lead role, and Jennifer Lawrence does a great job as well (even though I feel like she is completely miscast and not as incredible in this movie as everyone makes her out to be). There's also some great dialog, great editing as well. The overall tone is fun and it definitely keeps you interested in what's going on. I just felt if they had found a much better way to bring all of this together, it would have succeeded a lot more than I felt it did. Hopefully next time, O. Russell remembers that to back up his great actors, settings, costumes, soundtrack, and dialog with a solid and stable story.