American Hustle is a 2013 American crime drama film directed by David O. Russell, from a screenplay written by Eric Warren Singerand Russell, loosely based on the FBI ABSCAM operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s.^[4] It stars Christian Bale and Amy Adamsas two con artists who are forced by an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to set up an elaborate sting operation on corrupt politicians, including the mayor of Camden, New Jersey (Jeremy Renner). Jennifer Lawrence plays the unpredictable wife of Bale's character.

Principal photography on American Hustle began on March 8, 2013, in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, and New York City. The film had its nationwide release in the United States on December 20, 2013,^[5] and has since grossed more than $251 million worldwide. As well as being a box office success, the film received widespread critical acclaim. It received ten Academy Awardnominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing (Original Screenplay), but did not win in any category. It became the second film since Warren Beatty's Reds in 1981, and the 15th overall, to be nominated in the four acting categories, the first beingSilver Linings Playbook, also directed by Russell and also starring Cooper and Lawrence. American Hustle won three Golden Globe Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and three BAFTA Awards, among other achievements.