good not great

Rating: 7/10 (6 July 2015)

more of a critic pleasing movie than a moviegoers'. the acting was mainly the highlight of the movie, which is expected of the all star cast, but the characters are never really likable or people that anyone wants to root for. sure, they are relatively strong characters, and they show good development, but i don't really care when something bad happens to any of them. Christian bale is my favorite actor and i tend to support each of his roles in movies, yet i didn't really like irving that much. i did think that the foundation that was built for richie in the beginning of the movie was good, showing him as a loser that just wanted to make a name for himself and feel success for once in his life, as he was living with his mother and a fiancée that he did not care about at all. but then they made him more of a jerk as the movie went on. i guess they made him a jerk so that no one would feel bad when he lost at the end of the movie, but they didn't do it well enough because i definitely felt kind of bad for him. also, the movie was well written and had a good plot, but not enough intrigue. American hustle seemed more on the side of winning over the academy than being a people pleaser. also, i think exploring the friendship that irving and carmine built a little more would've been good.