Film Preview: American Hustle (2013)

Poster

Additional posters can be found below.

Trailer Link

Release Date:

December 13, 2013

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “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.”

Poster: B (5) / C+

Review: So far, we have no official full poster for the film, just a series of period-rich character posters that look fairly good, but lack of the attention to detail in the background that would have made the designs pop. Still, fans of any one of these actors (or more) could entice them into the theater.

The sixth poster (which I’m displaying at the top instead of the five character posters that preceded it), is a combo shot of the five actors, but lacks anything new or fresh, making it mostly uninteresting.

Trailer: B+ / C

Review: I may not be sold on the film’s Oscar chances yet, but this is a fairly substantial trailer that makes people want to see it. It has some fine actors involved, which should make for a fun time even if it isn’t that great of a film.

That first trailer was an eye-opener and positioned it as a rather fascinating-looking film. Yet, as is typical with strong opening trailers, the second has a more difficult time making the material look fresh and/or exciting. It tries to set the film up as a cross-cutting, double-crossing picture with lots of thrills and excitement, but the trailer itself feels slow and unassuming, which betrays all other intents.

Oscar Prospects:

David O. Russell broke the glass ceiling with the Academy. Now everything he does will be considered an Oscar contender. While the trailer makes this look similar to the critically acclaimed crime dramas of the 1970’s, we’ll have to wait until critics weigh in before knowing for certain. If it is, it could be a major contender. I’m not quite sold yet.