I'm not going to lie, I was super pumped about this movie. Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, an awesome con set in the 70s to the tune of Led Zeppelin? How could this possibly go wrong? I wanted to love this movie so much, and for the first ten or fifteen minutes, it was what I wanted it to be. Then I don't know what happened. I think the issue with this film is that David O. Russell wanted to sacrificed plot in favor of character, but went the wrong way about it. First of all, any film about a confidence scheme needs to have a really tightly woven plot, otherwise it will make no sense. In this film, Russell allowed his actors to improvise, thus drastically changing the course of the plot. It also led to self-indulgent performances better suited for an acting exercise for a college drama workshop than a major motion picture. Even professional, usually reliable actors need directors to rein in their instincts, and that's what was missing here. I'm shocked that this film has been getting so much good press, because for me American Hustle was one of the biggest disappointments of 2013. The only person I really liked in the film was Jeremy Renner, who took a small role and imbued with such heart that you couldn't help but feel bad for the poor guy who was only trying to do his best.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
