You’ve seen smoother, more elegant con movies than American Hustle, but probably none quite so big-hearted or so rudely, insistently entertaining.
As directed by that master of modern farce, David O. Russell, this sprawling fictionalized account of the notorious Abscam case is less a dramatic FBI procedural than a human comedy writ large, bringing a series of screwball variations on themes of duplicity and paranoia against a dazzling ’70s backdrop.
Deliriously funny and brilliantly acted by a cast of Russell returnees, this star-studded film is a near-continual pleasure to spend 135 minutes with, repeatedly hitting that comic sweet spot where corruption and buffoonery collide.
– Justin Chang, Variety
