This is by no means a great movie but it is a very watchable and entertaining movie, and that is a complete compliment considering this movie relies on acting to sell the entire movie. David O Russell has hit it out of the park with his last two movies The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, two of the best movies to come out in a long time. By making those two movies I think he's set his bar very high for future movies of his released. American Hustle doesn't reach the same heights as his previous movies but it gets darn close and is completely engaging throughout its two and half hour run time.
The acting in this movie is simply amazing. It is reason enough to go out and watch this movie as Russell has assembled one of the finest cast of actors acting today. Everyone of them is simply outstanding in their roles, as the screenplay gives them a lot of room to breath and flesh out their characters. And all of them are given characters that have a three dimensional complexity not found in many movies now-a-days. Let me tell you these actors take those complexities and run with them in full force, bringing these characters to life in ways I wouldn't have imagined. I like the fact Russell wasn't afraid to actually let these actors act in long scenes with nothing but dialogue. Russell put a lot of faith in his actors to carry this movie and they've risen to the challenge. All five of these actors: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeniffer Lawrence, and Jeremy Renner do a great job of fleshing out this story and bringing these characters to life. Robert De Niro does some of his best work in the 5 minute scene he's in. His presence is still felt in the film after he's long gone, so strong is his performance and well written his character as he completely compliments and enhances the story line, taking it a place that Bale's character was warning everyone about. I will say this though, Jeniffer Lawrence does steal the movie with a wildly off balance character that flirts with craziness and sanity in some ways that garners our hatred and sympathy in equal measures.
Russell is the best director out there using a hand held camera. No one matches his ability to set up a scene and actually shoot a scene with a hand held camera without it being all wobbly and confusing. His ability to communicate a scene with a hand held camera is simply not matched by the lazy directors using it today. Never for once was I in confusion as to what was going on in a scene, that speaks highly of him as a director. Here's looking forward to his next movie. He's officially joined the ranks of the best directors directing movies. These are the directors who's movies need to be seen when they do a new one (and only if they're directing it): Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Michael Mann, Alfonso Cuaron, Ben Affleck , and David O Russell.
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