AMERICAN HUSTLE
American Hustle is a 2013 American crime comedy-drama film directed by David O. Russell, from a screenplay written by Eric Warren
Singer and Russell, loosely based on the
FBI ABSCAM operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. It stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams as two con artists who are forced by an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to set up an elaborate sting operation on corrupt politicians,
including the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, (Jeremy Renner). Jennifer Lawrence plays the unpredictable wife of Bale's character.
Principal
photography on American
Hustle began on March 8,
2013 in Boston and Worcester,
Massachusetts, and New York City. The film had its nationwide release in the United States on December
20, 2013, and has since grossed
more than a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide. As well as being a box office success, the film received widespread critical acclaim. It received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing (Original Screenplay), but did not win in any category. It became the second film since 1981,
and the 15th overall, to be nominated in the four acting categories, the first being Silver
Linings Playbook, also directed by
Russell and also starring Cooper and Lawrence.American Hustle won
three Golden Globe
Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance
by a Cast in a Motion Picture and three BAFTA Awards, among other achievements.