No plot, no acting, no drama, no fun

Rating: 4/10 (28 December 2013)

I really wanted to like this one.
But when a movie must resort to clothing its female lead for the entire movie in a dress whose neckline plunges to her waist, the viewer may conclude: (1) the actor cannot act and/or (2) the film is beset with massive script problems. Well, Amy Adams is a fine actor. (In Charlie Wilson's War she more than held her on with co-stars Tom Hanks, Julie Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman). Wish I could say the same about the script for American Hustle. Full of holes, meandering, lack of focus (do we really need flash backs every five minutes?), no tension and ends in a whimper.
When the director chooses to open his film with his male lead (a "brilliant con artist") gluing on a ridiculous toupee which is not part of a disguise, and which makes said lead appear more buffoonish than brilliant, the viewer may conclude (1) the script is scraping the bottom of the barrel for laughs, (2) the actor is sadly miscast. Well, we know all about the script. As for the male lead, I like Christian Bale, but he is out of his debt here. His role demands a brilliant, conniving, charismatic, fatherly, arrogant and essentially flawed soul. The movie cries out for Tom Hanks or at the very least Brad Pitt and reduces Mr. Beale to wondering through the scenes in a state of confusion mumbling his lines like a zombie.
Plot and acting problems aside you long for some good lines like:
Vincent Lauria (Cruise in The Color of Money): "I've been telling her that. I got natural character."
Eddie Felson (Newman): "That's not what I said, kid. I said you are a natural character. You're an incredible flake. But that's a gift. Guys spend half their lives inventing that."
Or from the Sting – the gold standard of hustler movies: "I don't even know you." "You know me. I'm the same as you. It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody." --Loretta (Dimitra Arliss) and Johnny (Robert Redford)
But alas all we have is a character who impersonates an upper class British woman yet only uses her fake British accent when she's introduced to someone. Really, who is she going to fool? Well, an FBI agent for one. He falls for the rouse, and you are not sure who is dumb and who is dumber. (Isn't the word "background check" in his vocabulary?)
None of this would matter if the movie garners a few laughs or gives the audience the vicarious pleasure of getting back at the SOB's of the world. But in the run time of 2 hours (30% too long), I heard the audience laugh (chuckle, really) for about a minute total in 3 or 4 of the scenes. And as for revenge on the SOB's, the target of the scam was the nicest guy in the movie (Carmine Polito, the mayor of Trenton played by Jeremy Renner). The real SOB's were the scam artists and the FBI.
In the director's chair sat David O. Russell, whose "Silver Lining Playbook" I really like. Jennifer Lawrence did well and Robert De Niro's cameo gave the cast an acting lesson. Bradley Cooper, the FBI guy, should have paid more attention to De Niro.
American Hustle has generated many reviewer kudos and Oscar buzzes, but I would save my money and buy popcorn at some of the other offerings out there. This one should find its proper home on a non-premium cable channel in the near future.
Disclaimer: Taste in movies is as individual as finger prints. You may love the ones I pan, which is terrific. Find someone who's judgment you share, or even better, watch as many as you can – the good, the bad, and the ugly. The best critic is always the one between your ears.