Review of American Hustle (2013) by Jackophant — 25 Jan 2014

A movie perhaps for the bored cinefiles of the world, American Hustle is a convoluted mess with little direction and so much plot that it makes your head spin. It is different, in that David O'Russell way that might have worked for Silver Linings Playbook but fails when it aims for too much. It has some great actors, who give it their all but that doesn't really matter when the audience has no idea of what they're doing or why they're doing it. To give you an idea of what this movie is, I'll say the best part is when Robert De Niro briefly shows up for three minutes and reminds us all of how great Goodfellas and Casino were. For the rest of the movie I sat asking myself a few questions like: What is going on? Shouldn't this be considered entrapment? Man, Amy Adams nipples have been dangerously close to a wardrobe malfunction for like two hours, why does she only wear that one type of v-neck? Seriously, did they just glue her clothes to her nips or something? When will it ever end?'

The only redeeming factor to this movie is that it's not the typical, it goes its own way and does its own thing and I'll give it props for that. I just don't think American Hustle is an enjoyable movie.