American Hustle MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -4

Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner. Written by Eric Singer, David O. Russell. Comedy/drama/crime thriller. Directed by David O. Russell.

FILM SYNOPSIS: A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive British partner, Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso. DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia.

PREVIEW REVIEW: I guess I could say the same things about this film I had to say about August: Osage County and Her, Nebraska, as well as several others that are receiving positive attention from many colleagues in criticism. The acting is so good you tend to overlook the crude and deleterious abuses on our psyche. Well, others do. If you’re like me, the over 70 uses of the f-word alone used to pepper every character’s speech patterns, not to mention the 10 profane uses of God’s name or His Son’s, might find you dispirited long before the closing credits. And if somehow, like most critics who never even mention the abuse of film language, such obscenity doesn’t faze you, then beware of the adultery, the sexual acts and the violence that make up this film’s entertainment.

The acting is solid from each cast member (I love Jennifer Lawrence – great actor and I believe she will continue to have a long career as a movie star), and the direction and the script keep us glued to the screen with their inventiveness and artistry. Technically and artistically, I see the reason for the accolades it is winning and will win. But it’s not just the R-content that bothered my spirit. I had just spent over two hours with these soulless movie characters. They are predatory thieves who set up and steal from desperate people. They exist in real life and now I had to be once again reminded of the sleazy nature of many who walk among us. And by film’s end, I could find no moral compass worth the cacophony of verbal and visual abuses I had just sat through.

As I said in my review of August: Osage County, we can learn from the mistakes and foibles of those who don’t seek to develop the spiritual side of their nature. But whatever the positive message that may be found in this comedy/crime/drama, it’s been eclipsed by noxious excesses.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Atlas Entertainment