Reviews for this film from our members:
- Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
- Excerpt: American Hustle è una storia di amori, truffe e scandali politici, che comincia nella New York della seconda metà degli anni ’70 e ne mostra tutta la fragilità morale e identitaria.
- Mario Alegre @ Primera Hora [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A stellar cast in an “OK” movie.
- [New – 5/22/14] | Dragan Antulov @ Draxblog VI [Croatian]
- Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Cafe Texan
- Excerpt: David O. Russell does as close as anyone has come to making a Scorsese film that wasn’t actually a Scorsese film itself.
- José Arce @ LaButaca.net
- Excerpt: Esta delirante historia entre lo real y lo recreado subraya que David O. Russell se encuentra en el mejor momento de forma de su carrera. Divertida, loca, tragicómica y comitrágica, una película ineludible que bichea por los más gaznápiros juegos de poder imaginables.
- Edwin Arnaudin @ Ashvegas
- Excerpt: The ensemble is frequently a delight in their ridiculous ‘70s hair and wardrobe, but a closer look reveals multiple levels of inconsistency that make its 138 minutes seem like a longer time in the theater.
- Jason Bailey @ Flavorwire
- Excerpt: Nobody’s cracking any code by pinpointing the Scorsese influence, and we’ve had plenty of opportunities to see how easy it is to make an imitation Scorsese movie. What matters is if the good ones (and I’d include ‘Hustle’ in that group) go beyond the influence.
- Luke Bonanno @ DVDizzy.com
- Excerpt: Dazzling with compelling, unpredictable storytelling, rich personalities, technical splendor, and so much flavor, “American Hustle” delights in just about every way it can.
- Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: Another vibrant film directed by David O. Russell that is bursting with colorful characters, funny scenes, and standout performances.
- Daniel Carlson @ Pajiba
- Samuel Castro @ Ochoymedio.info [Spanish]
- Excerpt: American Hustle ha sido sobrevalorada por la crítica norteamericana, pues a pesar de sus evidentes cualidades, es una comedia dramática que no siempre funciona bien
- Bill Clark @ FromTheBalcony
- Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: director David O. Russell gives his latest, loosely based on Abscam, a tone of cocaine-fueled conning that plays like an updated screwball romantic comedy version of “The Sting” structured like Scorcese’s 70’s set “Goodfellas.”
- Phil Concannon @ Phil on Film
- Edwin Davies @ A Mighty Fine Blog
- Excerpt: In telling the story of the Abscam scandal – a sting operation in which the FBI used a convicted con artist to help ensnare politicians using a fake Sheikh scam – Russell and his immensely talented cast imbue the film with tremendous energy, none of which seems to be focused in any one direction. From scene to scene – and sometimes even within individual scenes – the film veers unpredictably from broad comedy to intense character study, or from moments of quiet reflection to ones of “This is definitely set in the ’70s!” outrageousness.
- Tony Dayoub @ Cinema Viewfinder
- Excerpt: …as incredibly attractive and beguiling as its duplicitous cast.
- Carlos del Río @ El rincón de Carlos del Río [Spanish]
- Excerpt: La gran estafa americana está llena de momentos muy buenos, muchos de ellos gracias a lo bien que está todo el reparto, y de grandes ideas; pero tiene un gran problema: que es demasiado difusa.
- Michael Dequina @ TheMovieReport.com
- Jim Dixon @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: The dialogue is often the sort of snappy patter you’d expect in vintage screwball comedies and that’s just fine. The plot is continuously surprising. You never know what to expect next, you can’t wait, and more often than not you’ll be wrong. .
- Billy Donnelly @ This Is Infamous
- Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: American Hustle is a big, bold, and brash study of big, bold, and brash characters.
- Candice Frederick @ Reel Talk
- Kimberly Gadette @ Doddle
- Excerpt: Think ‘Casino’ meets ‘The Grifters,’ shot through with a hefty dose of the off-kilter … and that’s “American Hustle.”
- Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: David O. Russell has crafted an unexpectedly zany, tantalizing crowd-pleaser that’s relentlessly entertaining.
- Vadym Grygoriev @ kinoblog.com [Ukrainian]
- Roderick Heath @ Ferdy on Films
- Excerpt: t’s neither a mere polyester shindig nor a covert artwork, but something intriguingly misbegotten, far less than the sum of its parts but more than a lark in the meadow. It’s something, but I’m not sure what.
- Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: David O. Russell manipulates fact vs. fiction with the singular vision of a confident filmmaker. We’re treated to a spectacular production that fabricates the pop culture excess of the late 70s in all its unfettered glory.
- Travis Hopson @ Punch Drunk Critics
- Excerpt: Being swindled has never been this much fun.
- Blake Howard @ Graffiti with Punctuation
- Excerpt: American Hustle is an ambitious satire, made by an accomplished filmmaker and loaded with terrific acting talent; but despite appreciating it for what it tried to achieve instead, it’s hard not to feel slightly conned.
- Dustin Jansick @ Way Too Indie
- Excerpt: The individual parts work well on their own right, but do not fit seamlessly when assembled together.
- Dan Jardine @ Cinemania
- Excerpt: Russell’s world view is essentially optimistic and romantic
- MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: Out-Scorsese’s Scorsese with its epic ensemble historical crime dramedy bursting with insanely engaging characters who are impossibly real and impossibly ridiculous whose stories you don’t ever want to end.
- Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: While the flash doesn’t swamp characterization, the end result doesn’t have the emotional impact or takeaway one might have hoped. Nevertheless, American Hustle is a party that gets away with hustling the viewer into having a good time with Russell and his troupe.
- Oktay Ege Kozak @ Oregon Herald
- Excerpt: If you’re going to open your film with a text as cheeky as “Some of this actually happened”, you better back that up with a story that’s as outlandish and “stranger than fiction” as you claim.
- Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
- Kristin Dreyer Kramer @ NightsAndWeekends.com
- Wesley Lovell @ Cinema Sight
- Excerpt: Movies have always played fast and loose with the facts of real events in order to goose up the entertainment value of their movies. Therefore, when David O. Russell decided to loosely set his fictional con film American Hustle against the backdrop of the New Jersey ABSCAM scandal, it’s no surprise that that basis was going to be embellished and enhanced.
- Marty Mapes @ Movie Habit
- Excerpt: Russell opts for chaos over clarity and love over work
- Jason McKiernan @ Next Projection
- Excerpt: It is tangentially inspired by a real-life scandal, stylistically inspired to replicate elements of Scorsese, but driven by its own unique pathos to explore the inner workings of conniving minds and find out what happens when they’re thrown into an emotional cauldron.
- Nell Minow @ The Movie Mom
- Pat Mullen @ Cinemablographer
- Excerpt: American Hustle situates the viewer at the centre of the con thanks to the ever-moving camera that graces a David O. Russell film. It’s like watching a game of Three Card Monte as the constant motion of the Steadicam moves about the players and observes all kinds of double deals and layers that put the hustlers in deep.
- Jason Pirodsky @ Expats.cz
- Excerpt: In previous films, Russell has shown a genuine love for his characters; here, he seems to be laughing at them.
- Jamie S. Rich @ DVD Talk
- Excerpt: American Hustle has style and story to spare. It embodies so much of the American spirit and lifestyle into what is widely considered a truly American medium.
- Jonathan Richards @ www.jonrichardsplace.com
- Excerpt: American Hustle is an extended cinematic jazz composition, weaving themes and rhythms, tight ensemble work and electrifying solos, and building to a foot-stomping climax.
- Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: The most dizzying vortex of 70s polyester and butterfly collars since “Boogie Nights.”
- Tom Santilli @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: Sure it contains some of the most memorable characters and performances of the year, but those who aren’t distracted by the film’s sparkly pizzazz won’t be able to help but notice its first-half flaws.
- Stephen Silver @ EntertainmentTell
- Excerpt: It’s Scorsese Karaoke
- Josh Spiegel @ Sound on Sight
- Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
- Excerpt: You’ll be happy to have been so thoroughly had.
- Mel Valentin @ VeryAware.com
- Excerpt: Doesn’t out-Scorsese Scorsese, but it’s the next best thing.
- Jean-François Vandeuren @ Panorama-cinema.com [French]
- Phil Villarreal @ COED.com
- Excerpt: The bra budget on this movie was exactly $0.
- Andrew Wyatt @ Gateway Cinephile
- Excerpt: There is something strangely gratifying about seeing Russell’s middlebrow and often frustrating auteurism finally discover a fitting vessel.
