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American Hustle

  • 2013
  • R
  • 2h 18m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
511K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,508
187
Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, and Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle (2013)
Con man Irving Rosenfeld and his lover Sydney Prosser are forced to work for an unhinged FBI agent who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Carmen Polito is the political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds, and Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down.
Play trailer2:29
26 Videos
99+ Photos
Period DramaTrue CrimeCrimeDrama

A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild F.B.I. Agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers an... Read allA con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild F.B.I. Agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and the Mafia.A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild F.B.I. Agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and the Mafia.

  • Director
    • David O. Russell
  • Writers
    • Eric Warren Singer
    • David O. Russell
  • Stars
    • Christian Bale
    • Amy Adams
    • Bradley Cooper
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    511K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,508
    187
    • Director
      • David O. Russell
    • Writers
      • Eric Warren Singer
      • David O. Russell
    • Stars
      • Christian Bale
      • Amy Adams
      • Bradley Cooper
    • 881User reviews
    • 552Critic reviews
    • 90Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 10 Oscars
      • 70 wins & 228 nominations total

    Videos26

    Trailer #2
    Trailer 2:29
    Trailer #2
    Trailer #1
    Trailer 1:50
    Trailer #1
    Trailer #1
    Trailer 1:50
    Trailer #1
    American Hustle
    Clip 1:00
    American Hustle
    American Hustle
    Clip 1:52
    American Hustle
    American Hustle: He Saved My Life
    Clip 1:02
    American Hustle: He Saved My Life
    American Hustle: Fire
    Clip 1:08
    American Hustle: Fire

    Photos350

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    + 344
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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    Christian Bale
    Christian Bale
    • Irving Rosenfeld
    Amy Adams
    Amy Adams
    • Sydney Prosser
    Bradley Cooper
    Bradley Cooper
    • Richie DiMaso
    Jennifer Lawrence
    Jennifer Lawrence
    • Rosalyn Rosenfeld
    Jeremy Renner
    Jeremy Renner
    • Mayor Carmine Polito
    Louis C.K.
    Louis C.K.
    • Stoddard Thorsen
    Jack Huston
    Jack Huston
    • Pete Musane
    Michael Peña
    Michael Peña
    • Paco Hernandez…
    Shea Whigham
    Shea Whigham
    • Carl Elway
    Alessandro Nivola
    Alessandro Nivola
    • Anthony Amado
    Elisabeth Röhm
    Elisabeth Röhm
    • Dolly Polito
    • (as Elisabeth Rohm)
    Paul Herman
    Paul Herman
    • Alfonse Simone
    Saïd Taghmaoui
    Saïd Taghmaoui
    • Irv's Sheik Plant
    • (as Said Taghmaoui)
    Matthew Russell
    • Dominic Polito
    Thomas Matthews
    Thomas Matthews
    • Francis Polito
    Adrian Martinez
    Adrian Martinez
    • Julius
    Anthony Zerbe
    Anthony Zerbe
    • Senator Horton Mitchell
    Colleen Camp
    Colleen Camp
    • Brenda
    • Director
      • David O. Russell
    • Writers
      • Eric Warren Singer
      • David O. Russell
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews881

    7.2511K
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    Featured reviews

    8danielmanson

    Starts slow and gets better and better

    I'd heard mixed responses about this film over the years so I had to finally give it a watch. And I'm sorry to anyone that hates this film, but I really enjoyed this one!

    The first half an hour or so is quite bland I'll be honest. No obvious direction for the film to go in, I wasn't too sold on any of the characters and just generally the pace was really slow.

    But the film massively picks up and it just gets better and better and more interesting with every minute that passes. The ending I thought was fantastic, it ended all the characters arc's amazingly well and had a brilliant twist involved which I didn't see coming.

    The standout for me is the acting. When I saw the pretty extravagant cast lineup I was skeptical. Usually films that go all in with cast typically don't do too well. So when I saw Bale, Adams, DeNiro, Renner, Lawrence, Cooper and CK and more I was thinking just that. But this doesn't fall into that category at all! Acting from everyone was superb and a real standout, really added so much more to the characters. Just a great job overall.

    But yeah, overall it's a fun, interesting watch with a little touch of subtle humour added which is always nice. 8/10 from me, would recommend.
    9nathanmanson

    That was brilliant

    The acting from all round was amazing. I find it very hard to believe that Christian bale didn't win a major award for his role I thought he was the stand out actor in this along side Jennifer Lawrence. It's crazy what Bale puts his body through for roles. The ending was perfect it ended exactly how I wanted it to.
    7tomgillespie2002

    A big dose of strangely endearing entertainment

    American Hustle is all about large characters, outlandish fashion and awful hair. It may tease you into thinking it's some kind of smart con- artist movie with it's (very loosely) based-on-real-events premise ("some of this actually happened", the opening credits inform us) and snappy trailer. But for all visual pizazz, this is in fact a very small movie, focusing on a small set of unique and frequently bizarre characters that just happen to cross paths amidst the ABSCAM operation in the late 70's and early 80's. Imagine if the characters from I Heart Huckabees (2004) were in fact the people who took part in the operation covered in Argo (2012), and you'll have something akin to American Hustle.

    Paunchy con-artist and loan-shark Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) hooks up with the beautiful Sydney (Amy Adams), an intelligent and ambitious American girl who improves Irving's scams by pretending to be an English aristocrat. When they are busted by creepy FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), they are promised leniency if they assist the Bureau in making four additional arrests. The plan is to entrap popular Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), who is looking to inject funds into gambling in Atlantic City, by having a friend pose as an Arab sheik looking for potential investments in America. As Irving, Richie and Sydney delve further into the sting, things start to spiral wildly out of control, as Irving's loud-mouth wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) can't seem to keep her mouth shut, and Richie develops feelings for Sydney.

    As said before, the plot plays second-fiddle to director David O. Russell's obvious fascination with this ensemble of weirdo's. Surprisingly, it's the slimy swindler at the centre of it all, Irving, that comes out of it the most recognisably human. In the opening scene, we see a shockingly bloated Bale, slapping his awful toupee across his head to cover up an embarrassing hairline. Is this the American Dream at work, a petty criminal posing as a sophisticated, honest guy? Well, no, American Hustle doesn't need to try and touch those metaphorical heights, but this is the type of person we're to spend the next two-plus hours with. An apparently successful sort of guy, covered in gold and eyes covered by tinted sunglasses, but hiding something fragile or dangerous that may soon reveal itself.

    The performances are spectacular, as one would expect. Bale manages to make you actually root for his slimeball character, and Jennifer Lawrence shows that she seems able to tackle any role or character with aplomb. Cooper does a job similar to his previous work with Russell, Silver Linings Playbook (2012), but even betters that. He seems to have the uncanny ability to make you instantly know there's just something wrong with his character, and when we see him at dinner with the fiancée he clearly doesn't love or respect, his hair bunched up in tiny little rollers, there's something simply tragic about him. And Amy Adams, let loose here to reveal an unseen feistiness, wins the award for Side-Boob of the Year.

    The whole thing is a rather strange experience, never really falling into a recognisable genre or taking a conventional approach to storytelling. It could only really come from the mind of David O. Russell, the only director that seems able to combine a mixture of mainstream commercial success, nominations and awards a-plenty, and independent sensibilities, never really moving away from his own vision. It's not a total success of course - Irving's admiration from the 'moral' Mayor Polito, who just wants to rejuvenate Atlantic City, seems a bit of a sympathy quick-fix, and no-one can out-Scorsese Martin Scorsese. Well, maybe Paul Thomas Anderson can. But American Hustle is a big dose of strangely endearing entertainment, that even when it outstays it's welcome towards the end still made me want to spend more time with the characters.

    www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
    8margineanvladdaniel

    Christian Bale, again abracadabra!

    A well deserved movie for all the nominations, not to mention the actors. It had something missing from being undisputed the best of the year, but so far, it is way better than the actual winner of the oscar.
    7janiceferrero

    Amerian Hustle with the benefit of hindsight

    The performances are the safeguard for this movie to have a very long life. I couldn't care less about the characters but I loved the actors playing them. They, the characters, make choices that are as coarse as their wardrobe. Thank God for the people wearing them .Christian Bale is absolute perfection. His character is disgusting and irresistible at the same time. brilliant performance. Amy Adams is superb and Bradley Cooper an unnerving hoot - also the brief moment with Robert de Niro is simply delicious but it is Jennifer Lawrence who made me want to see the movie again as if to confirm what I seem to remember. Yes indeed. She is spectacular. A performance of such maturity - her laughter alone belongs to one of the great ones of yesteryear. - Totally present. A character actress/star.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to Christian Bale, much of the movie was improvised. So during the shooting of the film, he noted to writer and director David O. Russell, "You realize that this is going to change the plot greatly down track." To which Russell replied, "Christian, I hate plots. I am all about characters, that's it."
    • Goofs
      The book that inspired Rosalyn, "Power of Intention" by Wayne Dyer was written in 2004.
    • Quotes

      Sydney Prosser: You're nothing to me until you're everything.

    • Crazy credits
      An opening title card states, "Some of this actually happened."
    • Alternate versions
      The leaked Academy Awards DVDSCR had the following differences.
      • A line of alternate dialogue in a voice over.
      • A few digitally altered shots.
      • The scene where Irving and his wife arguing has been trimmed.
      • The scene immediately following that scene with Irving in the car is shorter as well.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #22.55 (2014)
    • Soundtracks
      Jeep's Blues
      Written by Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges

      Performed by Duke Ellington

      Courtesy of Columbia Records

      By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

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    FAQ19

    • How long is American Hustle?Powered by Alexa
    • How did Christian Bale get so flabby?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 20, 2013 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • China
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Facebook (Brazil)
    • Languages
      • English
      • Arabic
    • Also known as
      • Escándalo americano
    • Filming locations
      • Boston, Massachusetts, USA(as Philadelphia)
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Annapurna Pictures
      • Atlas Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $40,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $150,117,807
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $740,455
      • Dec 15, 2013
    • Gross worldwide
      • $251,171,807
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 18 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Datasat
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Digital
      • Dolby Atmos
      • Dolby Surround 7.1
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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