As expected, Russell’s direction and much of the writing is as potent as ever, thanks in large part to his fondness for an ensemble cast. In addition to Cooper and Lawrence, the film stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Jeremy Renner, all of whom flaunt different aspects of their acting talents. Bale and Adams are most notable in their roles as con artists Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser. The latter is actually Rosenfeld’s mistress — his wife is Lawrence’s Rosalyn, who ultimately leaves to be with mobster Pete Musane.

But the focus here remains primarily on Rosenfeld and Prosser, their attempts to capture the American Dream through swindling anyone and everyone (especially in the beginning), and their eventual decision to walk away from it all. Cooper’s Richie Di Maso plays a major part, too, as he works alongside the con artist couple through an agreement that would lead to other arrests. Their deal is, essentially, to con Mayor Carmine Polito (Renner) and other politicians in an attempt to expose corruption through the FBI’s ABSCAM sting operation. Of course, American Hustle wouldn’t go anywhere without its fair share of missteps on the parts of Rosenfeld, Prosser, and Di Maso—particularly when love gets involved.

As it turns out, it’s the romantic/relationship aspect — most notably whether one can trust another — that becomes one of the biggest themes of the film. With that in mind, this may be a crime-themed film, but those of you looking for some action moments will have to go elsewhere. While it flirts with the idea, this particular film never really reaches the action-packed peaks you may be hoping for because it dives further into the personal side of things. Bale fans in particular would be better suited revisiting his Dark Knight trilogy or, better yet, the somewhat-overlooked Public Enemies from 2009. As outlined on Picturebox, Bale stars alongside Johnny Depp and the two clash as an FBI agent and world-renown bank robber John Dillinger, respectively.

While some may see American Hustle as “Oscar bait” or a film that’s simply trying too hard, they would also be selling it far too short. The script never falls flat in its goal to look into the art of conning people and its impact on everyone involved. Likewise, the direction follows right along with that goal and accomplishes it with ease. The same goes for the superb work on the end of costuming and setting.

American Hustle may appear “self-aware” at times, but that could just be one’s decision to look into it too deeply. There’s depth here, for sure, but not to the point where it should take away from what ends up being a highly entertaining 138 minutes.

Released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 1 January 2014.