* ActorInspiredElement:
** Creator/BradleyCooper suggested that Richie should have a perm, and also to have him wearing curlers in the scene at his apartment.
** Rosalyn giving Sydney a kiss was Creator/AmyAdams' idea. In the script, Rosalyn just gave her a talking to and then left. Realising that Sydney would not just let her leave like that, Adams suggested the kiss as a way of completely stunning Sydney.
* AllStarCast: Seriously, you got Creator/ChristianBale, Creator/AmyAdams, Creator/BradleyCooper, Creator/JeremyRenner and Creator/JenniferLawrence in one package. And Creator/RobertDeNiro has a cameo.
* CastTheRunnerUp: Although Creator/ChristianBale was the first choice for Irving, he had to briefly drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Creator/BradleyCooper was already cast as Richie and was then going to replace Bale. Creator/JeremyRenner was then going to replace Cooper as Richie. But when Bale's schedule cleared up, everyone reverted to their initial parts - and Carmine was then written so that Renner could star.
* CreatorBacklash: Creator/AmyAdams doesn't look too fondly on her time in this movie, later confessing that Creator/DavidORussell shouted so much abuse at her on set that she "felt like crying every day".
* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/ChristianBale, as usual. He put on 43 pounds to play the overweight Irving. He also shaved his head, so he'd have an authentic combover and affected a slouchy posture throughout, herniating two discs in the process. Creator/RobertDeNiro apparently didn't recognise him when they shot their scene, and had Creator/DavidORussell point out who Christian Bale was.
* FakeAmerican: The Welsh-born English Creator/ChristianBale and English Creator/JackHuston play American characters.
* FakeNationality: There's a couple of In-Universe examples:
** Sydney constantly fakes a British accent in order to pass herself off as "Lady Edith Greensly".
*** The woman Sydney/Edith is based on really was English, making this an example of AdaptationalNationality.
** And there's the Mexican FBI agent who impersonates an Arab sheik, which gets lampshaded by Irving as ridiculous.
* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: According to Creator/ChristianBale, much of the movie was improvised. So during the shooting of the film, he noted to Creator/DavidORussell, "You realize that this is going to change the plot greatly down track." To which Russell replied, "Christian, I hate plots. I am all about characters, that's it."
* HostilityOnTheSet: Creator/DavidORussell reportedly screamed at Creator/AmyAdams during production and it got so bad that '''Creator/ChristianBale''' stepped in to defend her, telling him to "stop acting like an asshole."
* PlayingAgainstType:
** ''[[DownplayedTrope Sort of]]'', with Creator/AmyAdams. Sydney has many moments with Irving, particularly in the beginning, that call to mind Amy's typical "sweetheart" persona. Still, it's ''pretty'' hard to imagine [[Film/{{Enchanted}} Princess Giselle]] as a [[TheVamp sexually aggressive]] FemmeFatale.
** To a lesser extent, Creator/JeremyRenner. Usually as a military man or action-oriented in some way - not to mention GoodIsNotNice and DeadpanSnarker. Carmine is the NonActionGuy and a squeaky-clean mayor.
* PlayingWithCharacterType: Creator/AmyAdams plays a FemmeFatale who was once innocent but had to reinvent herself as a vamp to "survive", and there are several moments that call to mind Amy's typical sweetheart persona.
* ProductionPosse: David O Russell brings many of his regulars such as Creator/BradleyCooper, Creator/JenniferLawrence, Elisabeth Rohm and Creator/RobertDeNiro in a cameo. He had also worked with Creator/ChristianBale and Creator/AmyAdams [[Film/TheFighter before as well]].
* RealLifeRelative: When Carmine is greeting the city as Mayor, he kisses a child on the hands. This is Jeremy Renner's own daughter Ava. The woman holding the girl is Renner's ex-wife Sonni Pacheco.
* ThrowItIn:
** The kiss that Rosalyn lays on Sydney during their bathroom confrontation was apparently done at Amy Adams' insistence.
** Creator/ChristianBale and Creator/JenniferLawrence were having trouble with the scripted argument between Irving and Rosalyn - so they just improvised the whole thing instead.
** The ice fishing story was improvised on set. It has an ending that isn't heard in the film. [[spoiler: Stoddard's brother ended up taking a shit on the ice]].
* UnderageCasting: In true Creator/DavidORussell tradition, Rosalyn's real life counterpart was in her mid-30s. Creator/JenniferLawrence was twenty-three. She's implied to be something of a trophy wife - but is clearly still meant to be older than Lawrence was at the time.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/BenAffleck was originally considered to direct, but he dropped out to direct ''Series/TheStand2020'', which he eventually dropped out of as well.
** The original script of the movie which was entitled ''American Bullshit'' has a LighterAndSofter approach such as Irving and Richie being more heroic and friendly to each other but Sydney and Rosalyn were DemotedToExtra and had little involvement in the con. It also used the real names of those involved in the ABSCAM operation except for Mel's wife (who actually committed suicide).
* WorkingTitle: Originally, the title of this film was ''American [[PrecisionFStrike Bullshit]]''. Though that would end up as a CensoredTitle.
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