American Hustle was one of 2013's biggest hits and has nearly dominated awards season thus far. It is poised to become a big winner tonight at the Academy Awards, with nine nominations, including the five biggest- Best Picture, Best Actor (Christian Bale), Best Actress (Amy Adams), Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), and Best Supporting Actor (Bradley Cooper).

The big name heavy film, directed by the notable David O. Russell, and containing an ensemble cast including Robert DeNiro, was a huge hit that lived up to the weight of its cast in the eyes of critics. It's a humored up heist film with all the elements of the genre: con men, police, mafia, casinos, betrayals.


Image courtesy of INFphoto.com

Each actor had stellar performances in their equally but differently enormous caricature roles. Bale earned a nomination for his role as the lead con-man with a jaded past and complicated emotions, Adams earned one for playing the stripper-turned-con woman and mistress to her partner (Bale's character), Lawrence for portraying the con man's shameless, neurotic wife, and Cooper earned his for portraying the curly-haired cop bent on making a bust to boost his career.

The film is critically acclaimed but there were some things that were less than pleasant about it, so in honor of its Oscar possibilities, here are the top ten reasons to love and hate American Hustle.

Why you should love it:

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5. The plot

The story was set in the 70s/80s which offered its own brand of entertainment for that reason alone, between the music, outfits and atmosphere of the time. There was a love square, and stories are always more interesting when there's a complicated love mess. This one was particularly interesting because you really couldn't guess for most of the movie who was going to end up with whom, and there were plenty of reasons to love and hate each character involved. The twist at the end. It won't be spoiled here but just when you think the tale is over, a huge revelation is made that changes everything. This kind of twist makes any movie extra impressive, especially when you don't see it coming.

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4. The style and accents
Every single outfit Amy Adams wears has a wildly plunging neckline and she is never wearing a bra. No matter who you are or who you're interested in, it was hot. People left the movie talking about that possibly more than any other part of the film. Enough said.

Bradley Cooper's curly hair. This got almost as much attention in the public sphere as Adams' dresses, with the curls looking wildly ridiculous and adorable on Cooper at the same time. It was made even better by the fact that Cooper's character put mini curlers in his hair during the movie.

And the accents... they were entertaining as heck and the actors nailed them. You had British (Amy Adams' alter ego con woman), Jersey (Jeremy Renner's mayor), Bale's New York accent, and Robert DeNiro (no explanation needed). It was a language melting pot of delight.

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3. The ensemble cast

As mentioned earlier, the film included several big stars and they lived up to their names with their spot on performances. Everyone worked well with each other in terms of chemistry and they fit with their characters to a T. If there hadn't been as much emphasis on each character as there was, and instead one was given more of a spotlight, the film would not have worked so well.

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2. Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence fight/kiss

This scene was one of the highlights of the film because it was random and yet made perfect sense at the same time. Bale's con man's wife and mistress meet face to face for the first time and both at first pretend they are cool with the situation and fall apart simultaneously. Jennifer Lawrence's character (the wife) goes to the bathroom and Adams comes in after her, scolding her for flirting. Jennifer Lawrence's character retaliates with an insulting rant ending with a random kiss and a manic laugh before she storms out. It was sexy, charming, bizarre and humorous at the same time.

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1. Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence turned what could have been a low profile role into possibly the highlight of the film. Her character Rosalyn was supposed to be a hot mess with a trashy, obnoxious air and Lawrence made her exactly that but so much more. She was over-the-top crazy but in the best possible way and it's hard to imagine anyone but Lawrence doing what she did with the character. It's almost impossible to really describe how perfect Lawrence was in the role. Simply put, if for nothing else, the film is worth watching just for her.

NEXT - Why you should hate it:

[ new page = Christian Bale's hair ]

5. Christian Bale's hair
Some probably found it comical, but the awful toupee he wore that kept falling off and had to be messily glued back on was just painful to see sometimes. It made his character less likable, not because he wore a toupee but it just gave him a sleazy appearance in a way.

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4. Excessive length
Long seemed to be the theme of this year's Oscar films, with many of them 2 hours or more. This was one of those long films and whereas it might have made sense for some movies, it wasn't really necessary here. It seemed to drag on a bit and might have been a little sharper and cleaner if it was trimmed down just a little bit. The length just wasn't necessary for the story it was telling.

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3. Excessively over-the-top
Though the characters were likeable for some reasons, they were also so incredibly over-the-top that it was sometimes overwhelming and annoying. Whatever type of person each character was, they had every stereotypical aspect of that kind of person and it just seemed a little bit overdone. It's like whereas they would have been fine telling you who they were, they were screaming it instead.

[ new page = The plot]

2. The plot
The plot had its good components but it was also a bit confusing and depressing. For one, good characters got screwed, which is always a bit frustrating (at least to this writer). The mayor was committing a crime but with good intentions so you pity him for his downfall, and the losing cop may have had less than noble motivations but he was still aiming to do the right thing so you feel bad for his fate as well.
The second problem with the plot is if you don't know a lot about how casinos and politics work, it's not that easy to follow. The fast pace at which they explain things and the terminology used is not something everyone would know so it distances itself from some audience members.

[ new page = The OTHER kiss]

1. Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams kiss
These two had great chemistry throughout the movie and both gave great performances, but the scene in which they finally have physical contact for the first time after the long existence of sexual tension is not easy on the eyes. They are both hot but the way they kiss is sloppy, messy and where it would seem the intention was to show the hesitation, deep lust and need, it just came off pathetic and unsexy in every way. You'd think a kiss between the likes of these actors would be one for the books... maybe it was but not so much the good book.

Don't agree with some of these assessments? Comment on the story and share your thoughts as the Oscars get under way.