What happened to David O. Russell ?

Rating: 4/10 (18 May 2014)

Despite being on a good streak after The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell returns with this American Hustle that is, unfortunately, deadly boring. The movie never manages to shift gears, evolving at a false rhythm from start to finish : every time the plot seems to be gaining interest, it all goes downwards so much so that it is impossible to get carried away by this story, by the way too little dynamic, too talkative, and whose scenes often drag on with no real justification.
Apart from a few sparkles here and there, the mise-en-scène isn't very glorious either and its relative flatness only emphasizes the heaviness and limpness of the movie.
As for the cast, it's not particularly blamable but it seems O. Russell tried a bit too hard to pile up names to arouse curiosity when in the end, some actors, Renner or De Niro for example, don't have significant roles.
Anyway, even though a few scenes manage to captivate or crack a smile, American Hustle is a disappointment especially in relation to what we were expecting from a director/writer who, apparently, already had proved his worth.