[6] It stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams as two con artists 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).

Irving loves Sydney but is unwilling to leave his unstable, histrionic wife, Rosalyn, fearing he will lose contact with adopted son Danny.

An associate of Irving's suggests the sheikh do business with Mayor Carmine Polito of Camden, New Jersey, who is trying to revitalize gambling in Atlantic City, but has struggled to find investors.

Irving is surprised to hear that Mafia boss Victor Tellegio, right-hand man to Meyer Lansky, is present and wants to meet the sheikh.

Richie confesses his strong attraction to Sydney but becomes confused and aggressive when she drops her English accent and admits to being from Albuquerque.

It is revealed that Alfonse Simone, with whom Richie had arranged the wire transfer, was a con man working with Irving and Sydney.

The production was set up at Columbia Pictures, with Charles Roven and Richard Suckle producing through Atlas Entertainment, who initially considered Ben Affleck to direct, before David O. Russell ultimately signed on to helm the film.

After lockdown was lifted, the film wrapped its Boston shoot and spent its final few days of production in New York City.

The website's critical consensus reads: "Riotously funny and impeccably cast, American Hustle compensates for its flaws with unbridled energy and some of David O. Russell's most irrepressibly vibrant direction.

[29] Christy Lemire awarded the film four out of four stars, praising David O. Russell's directing and the relationship between Irving and Sydney, as well as Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Rosalyn.

She writes: "For all its brashness and big personality, American Hustle is a character study at its core—an exploration of dissatisfaction and drive, and the lengths to which we're willing to go for that elusive thing known as a better life.

"[30] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film an A+, especially complimenting Bradley Cooper's performance and stating that American Hustle was "the best time I've had at the movies all year".

[31] Time magazine's Richard Corliss wrote: "American Hustle is an urban eruption of flat-out fun—the sharpest, most exhilarating comedy in years.

"[32] Peter Debruge of Variety was critical of the film, calling it "a sloppy sprawl of a movie" and complaining that the improvisational performances overwhelm, instead of adding to a coherent plot.

In real life, Brodeur has written books, including The Zapping of America, about the dangers of microwave radiation but claims he has never stated the process removes a food's nutrition.

[41][42] The defendants immediately filed a motion under California's anti-SLAPP statute to strike the complaint and award them attorney fees, which the trial court initially denied.

[43] The decision was reversed by the California Court of Appeal, which held that the motion should have been granted because "the general tenor of American Hustle, the entirely farcical nature of the 'science oven' scene, and the ditzy nature of the character uttering the allegedly defamatory statement, all indicate that an audience would not expect anything Rosalyn says to reflect objective fact" and that, in view of this, Brodeur "failed to carry his burden of showing a probability of prevailing on his defamation claim".

American Hustle is a dramatization of the FBI's Abscam sting operation in the late 1970s and early '80s that led to convictions of seven members of the United States Congress, among others.