5 years later. Thoughts on American Hustle?

Renner was very good, the costumes are snazzy and solid, and De Niro's one-scene wonder is the best thing he's done since Jackie Brown. But everything else bottoms out as a cut-rate version of a cut-rate version of a lesser Scorsese joint. Bale's the best of the main four but his character is such a bloody bore who barely makes much of an impression one way or the other, but at least he isn't as offensive as the other three. Bradley Cooper's character is impossible to take seriously as a person with any kind of authority, and his various tics are irritating rather than charming. Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams are both so hideously miscast, bringing out the absolute worst tendencies in the both of them that neither one had ever showcased except when David O. Russell was involved.

I don't outright hate it but it's really not that good. Extremely heavy-handed (typical O. Russell) and the cast was collectively pretty annoying, with the worst being Jennifer Lawrence. None of them should've been nominated (though I don't consider Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and JLaw the worst nominee of their category that year. The title belongs to Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill and Lupita Nyong'o, respectively).

I still prefer it a great deal more to The Wolf of Wall Street, though. It's at least somewhat watchable.

Still can't stand it . And am baffled at all the Oscar noms it got

I would be very interested to see how many film critics actually stand by the raves they wrote for this movie.

Still terrible.

Honestly? It's fun as fuck. It just works for me, I found it to be utterly hilarious and engaging.

The movie is a blast. People call it "Scorsese-lite" but that is kind of ridiculous. It's more of a winking tribute to Scorsese's style inside of a goofball, Ocean's Elevenish ball of entertainment. The hatred baffles me.

the way you all feel about this movie is the way i feel about most oscar films in general

and also the way i feel about this one

I don't have the flaming darts hate for it that a lot of people on here do, but it's just so fluffy and average. I liked the Bale/Adams relationship, but everything else about it was just okay. Also I think this is the movie that ingrained JLaw in my head as being hyperirritating, she's not nearly this bad in anything else. It does come off like a cheap Scorsese imitation, as others have pointed out.

I've always been pretty baffled as to why this particular film has gotten so much hate online despite being so admired by the critics. It's just such a strange split of opinions. As to the film itself, I love it. I never really felt that there was that much Scorsese here tbh - he and Russell have such separate styles of cinematography and editing that it always felt like a Russell film to me and nothing other than that. I love it for taking that true story and not turning it into an Argo-like bit of safe Hollywood storytelling but for turning the real story into a foundation for the main thing which is these tremendously entertaining characters that are perfectly cast and perfectly played. The performances are flamboyant, big and very enjoyable with every character leaving a mark. I love how they interact, I love the kinda loose nature of the storytelling here, I love the energy and the humor. The only thing that is a bit disappointing here is probably the very ending, and for one simple reason - it kinda feels like the movie just stops instead of the ending leaving a strong impression. But other than that I really love this. It's a great film about people trying to connect by all means they can - disguises, costumes, stings, betrayals, etc.