Not Approved

American Hustle

A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down.
19
Negative Rating
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SexLanguageViolenceDrugsNudityOther
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Positive Rating
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FaithIntegrity

Dove Review

This fictional film, set in the late seventies and a little beyond, deals with the realities of a corrupt con man and a woman he falls in love with, Sydney, portrayed by Amy Adams. Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) preys on people who want to invest little and gain a lot in return, and people who want to buy art, not realizing the forgeries they are paying for. FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) enters the scene and begins to call the shots, enlisting Irving and Sydney to take down those who are just as corrupt or more so. However, Irving devises a plan so he ends up pulling the strings without DiMaso realizing it.

Jennifer Lawrence is hilarious as Irving’s free spirited and off-the-wall wife Rosalyn. In one scene Irving brings home a gift from a politician friend, a microwave oven, which is just being released during this time. He instructs Rosalyn not to put any metal in it. She does put a metal food tray in and it burns up and out. She then proceeds to tell him she had read that the nutrients are lost in micro-waved food and she actually helped them nutrient wise, and that microwaves are a fire hazard and she helped to keep their house from burning down! The film does a nice job in capturing this time period with the clothes, the colors, and the hairstyles.

The problem is the content in this film. A married man has an affair with a single woman, another man has an affair with the single woman, and the married man’s wife winds up having an affair. There is strong language throughout the entire film including the F bomb being repeated over and over. There is drug use as well. All the combined elements keep this one from being Dove Approved by a long shot.

Dove Rating Details

0
Faith

None

0
Integrity

Several characters smack each other; a man is punched several times and kicked and he has blood coming from nose; kid throws rocks through windows; man is hit a few times with a phone; men hold guns on each other.

4
Sex

A married man and woman have sex and a few scenes show what is happening although it is not overly graphic; a man fools around with the single woman that the married man is attached to; the married man's wife has an affair; a couple makes out in the women's bathroom stall; innuendos and sex talk and the F word is used sexually several times; passionate on-screen kissing; a woman kisses another woman on the mouth, apparently for shock value; man and woman shake rear; man grabs woman's clothed rear; man kisses clothed woman up and down her body.

5
Language

So much language that I quit counting but it includes the F word used repeatedly, GD several times and "J" and "JC" in addition to many other curses and profanities and slang for testicles.

2
Violence

Several characters smack each other; a man is punched several times and kicked and he has blood coming from nose; kid throws rocks through windows; man is hit a few times with a phone; men hold guns on each other.

4
Drugs

A person snorts cocaine; woman smokes on what looks like a marijuana cigarette; drinking in many scenes and many bar scenes; the alcohol includes beer and wine and champagne; the smoking of cigarettes in several scenes in addition to cigar smoking; man takes prescription pills.

2
Nudity

Strong cleavage in many scenes; women in swimwear and bikinis; woman wears skimpy outfit; shirtless men; man and woman seen having sex in bed and this includes bare shoulders and shirtless man and bare legs; woman's thigh and part of rear seen.

2
Other

The mob and their underworld activities; betrayal; tattoos seen on man's chest.

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