Well written, Paul. I am looking forward to this. Check out Lovelace for 1970's authenticity: everything and everyone looks awful.

I thought this flick was about the swinging 70s? All this talk about affected Jersey accents and con men just leaves me wanting. I live for this kind of movie…helps me relive the most banal period of my life.

Amy Adam's isn't a new comer to David O Russell, she was one of the stars of "The Fighter".

Damn, you lost all credibility when you dissed Matchstick Men, which was a great movie and ten times better than Ocean's Eleven!

Viewed "American Hustle" yesterday. A terrific film and highly recommended. While I did think it resembled "Casino", the movie was a unique story in its own right. Bale, Adams, Cooper, Lawrence and Renner are all outstanding. Enjoyed the period costumes and set design as well. Clearly, Russell is becoming one of the better American film directors. I now look forward to his films.

Maybe I'm wrong and some day you can tell me so, but I'm willing to go on record now as saying that Jennifer Lawrence’s looks aren't going anywhere.

#7 You have NO credibility with a handle like yours.

Jennifer Lawrence as Jill Ireland.

Paul, you fucking suck.

I thought the principal characters in Casino and Goodfellas (Henry Hill, Jimmy Conway, Tommy, Sam Rothstein, Nicky Santoro, etc.) were the characters running around trying to scrape together a living while the fat cats live out their huge Greek tragedies.

#11

Very true. Casino, Goodfellas, and earlier, Thief (1980) shows that the Made Man can carry a movie, same as interesting a character as a don, and the Sopranoes showed that the mob does not end at the Hudson River or the Nassau County line.

AH seems like a kinder, gentler, less memorable incarnation of Goodfellas. The aesthetic, pacing, and directorial methodology are almost identical. The acting is mostly first-rate; Amy Adams is particular is the emotional lifeblood of story. But the story is thin, and the direction is derivative and stale. AH is moderately entertaining in the moment, but the lack of substance makes in mostly forgettable afterward (much like the 70s).

I loved this movie. I felt the actors/characters were totally unique, intricate and way cool. Frankly, Scorcese's Italian gangster shtick is extremely over rated to me. The characters are all the same. Tough talking , violent, Italiany fake thugs who go to church and kill people. American Hustle was far more brilliant than a bunch of identical drones with their dumb , oblivious housewives
that populate Scorcese's tired routine.