American Hustle (2013)

Director David O. Russell (Silver Linings PlaybookThe Fighter) has made a career out of championing the underdog. His latest film, rewritten from a script inspired by the 1978 Abscam sting operation by Eric Singer, makes heroes of small-time grifters conscripted into an FBI sting operation. But like the theme obsessively repeated throughout the movie, there’s something rotten underneath this slick production. Read the full review here