Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context YMMV / AmericanHustle

Go To

1* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: From how Rosalyn and Irving talk, it suggests that they were happy when they first got together and then Rosalyn got depressed and suffered SanitySlippage. Or could Rosalyn have been putting on an act to get herself a husband and someone to help her take care of Danny? Irving's narration says Rosalyn turned out to not be the woman he thought she was, implying the latter. But [[spoiler: her eventual HeelFaceTurn]] suggests the former.
2* AwardSnub:
3** Some were rather annoyed that, despite receiving ten UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, the film failed to earn recognition for its Makeup/Hairstyling (which was arguably one of its most praised features).
4** Were it not for Creator/CateBlanchett's excellent work in ''Film/BlueJasmine'', Creator/AmyAdams might have finally won her coveted Oscar instead of going home empty handed for the 5th time.
5* BaseBreakingCharacter:
6** Creator/JenniferLawrence as Rosalyn. As noted below, some felt she was simply too young to play a bitter housewife (especially as the real life person Rosalyn was based on was in her 30s). But she was still highly praised in the role, some feeling she was still good in spite of that.
7** Creator/JeremyRenner as Carmine Polito to a lesser extent. Many who had known the real life figure the character is based on praised Renner for recreating the man exactly. Others felt Renner was not the right fit - especially as he has made a career out of playing either action heroes or bitter {{Deadpan Snarker}}s - and thus was not at all right as the only NiceGuy in the film. Some feel he would have been a better fit for Richie, and Creator/BradleyCooper would be more suited to Carmine.[[note]]In fact Renner ''was'' originally going to play Richie after Christian Bale temporarily dropped out of the project and Cooper was moved to the role of Irving. After Bale rejoined the project, Cooper was shifted back to playing Richie and the role of Carmine was created for Renner.[[/note]]
8* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Creator/AmyAdams on MsFanservice duty for two hours is more than enough for some viewers. [[MaleGaze And the camera's all too happy to oblige.]] Not helping matters is the skimpiest outfit she wears in the movie - the sparkly casino dress - being the one on all the posters. Oh, and she makes out with Creator/JenniferLawrence.
9* HarsherInHindsight: Seeing Sydney go through the experience of realising that Richie is an abusive {{Jerkass}} once you know that Creator/AmyAdams suffered a lot of abuse on set from Creator/DavidORussell.
10* HilariousInHindsight:
11** The tension between Rosalyn and Sydney in the casino can become hilarious when you hear about how much Creator/AmyAdams trolled Creator/JenniferLawrence while filming. Amy had a habit of slouching when the camera wasn't on her, resulting in her nipples frequently popping out and [[MyEyesAreUpHere distracting Jennifer]]. Amy decided to draw a smiley face on the area so "at least it would look friendly to her".
12** Rosalyn snaps in an argument with Irving "why don't you ''build'' something?" - Creator/ChristianBale's next film after this was ''Film/ExodusGodsAndKings'' where he plays Moses. Would Rosalyn be satisfied with that? And what's more is that Jennifer Lawrence's next project with David O Russell was ''Film/Joy2015'' - where she plays a master inventor.
13** Amy Adams plays the lover of Christian Bale, whose most famous role was Franchise/{{Batman}} in Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy. She then went on to play Franchise/{{Superman}}'s lover ComicBook/LoisLane in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse.
14* HypeBacklash: Some audiences don't find the film as good as its high reviews suggest. So much so that the Academy seemed to agree, resulting in a major AwardSnub--the film failed to win ''any'' of its ''10'' Oscar nominations.
15* JerkassWoobie:
16** Rosalyn. Manipulative and crazy? Yes, and a BitchInSheepsClothing, but she's genuinely upset and hurt about the fact her husband is cheating on her and she does seem to care about Danny, and all she wants is for somebody to love her for who she is.
17** Arguably, Richie to an extent when you see his small apartment and desperate desire to become successful. Unfortunately, the jerkass part keeps rising as the movie progresses.
18* {{Narm}}: Rosalyn furiously cleaning the house while dancing to [[Music/PaulMcCartney "Live and Let Die"]]. It serves very little purpose, comes and goes quite quickly, and comes across as Creator/DavidORussell just wanting to put in another comedic scene of Creator/JenniferLawrence acting like a LargeHam.
19* NarmCharm: There are some who legitimately enjoy Rosalyn's cleaning scene.
20* OneSceneWonder:
21** [[spoiler: Creator/RobertDeNiro]] in an uncredited cameo playing a mafia man in a single scene. [[spoiler:And he speaks Arabic]].
22** Also, Creator/MichaelPena as the [[spoiler: Mexican "Sheik"]].
23* OvershadowedByControversy: Despite being well-received, this movie came to international attention when the Sony email hacks were released. Notably the two female leads were discovered to have been paid drastically less than the three males - despite having equal screen time. If the gender pay gap in Hollywood is brought up, expect this movie to be mentioned as an example of it. Jennifer Lawrence would later post a scathing editorial about it.
24* QuestionableCasting:
25** For a lot of viewers, Creator/JenniferLawrence was just too young to believably portray a character like Rosalyn.
26** For others, Creator/JeremyRenner wasn't believable as the only squeaky-clean NiceGuy in a cast full of GreyAndGrayMorality. It makes more sense with him originally being brought in to play Richie - when Creator/ChristianBale had to temporarily drop out and Creator/BradleyCooper swapped from Richie to Irving. When Christian Bale's schedule opened up, everyone reverted to their initial parts and Carmine was written so that Jeremy Renner could star.
27* TearJerker:
28** The breakdowns of [[spoiler: Carmine and his family]] when they find out what Irving's done and that all of their hard work will be for nothing.
29** After the tense confrontation in the bathroom between Sydney and Rosalyn, Rosalyn leaves the bathroom and bumps into Pete. By the time Sydney passes them, Rosalyn is in tears and sobbing into Pete's chest. [[JerkassWoobie It's one of the times in the movie you can actually feel sorry for her]]. Even worse is that the song playing over that scene is [[Music/TheBeeGees "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart"]].
30** During the big argument between Irving and Rosalyn, she says to him, in a voice full of tears, how she did it because of how all Irving does is leave her at home on her own all day and all she's ever wanted was for him to love her. It really goes to show how hurt she is by the affair Irving has been having with Sydney because of how the romance has gone out of their marriage, and thus why [[spoiler:Rosalyn wants to go to Miami with Pete]] because, in her words, she's finally found someone who loves her. The way she screams it at Irving really hammers it home.
31* TheWoobie:
32** Poor Sydney. As manipulative and conniving as she is, the fact that she truly loves Irving--and that his breaking her heart is what motivates her to throw herself into her seduction of Richie--really conveys just how much of a toll the whole affair is taking on her. Add in how sweet and girlish she is in the "good old days" sequence, and you really can't help but feel that she's a generally good person, but she just can't accept what this criminality is doing to her. (Being played by Creator/AmyAdams certainly helps.)
33** Carmine Polito is this in spades. He's not "corrupt" in the sense of being ''bad''...he just played the game because he honestly felt he had no choice. And then he's the one who goes down in the end....

Top