A razor-sharp satire about greed, loneliness, despair and dumb ambition, obviously in David O. Russell's eyes the driving forces of the America of the '70s and today. The conned conman is an old theatre trope but still effective because we will always love to see the arrogant fall and the overconfident tricked. Sometimes this film with its dialogues like boxing matches is a little too over the top but the hope and humanity at the heart of the film - the conviction that good can be done, even when done through shady methods - grounds it and makes the mostly despicable characters likeable. Perfect perfomances all around plus a menacing cameo by Robert DeNiro. All of this - the plot, the dialogues, the acting - plus the gung-ho costumes, sets and hairstyles that do the '70s justice and simultaneously show its utter crazyness and you have a hugely entertaining film.
Review of American Hustle
