Russell started his career directing the dark comedy films Spanking the Monkey (1994), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Three Kings (1999), and I Heart Huckabees (2004).

He gained critical success with the biographical sports drama The Fighter (2010), the romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook (2012), and the dark comedy crime film American Hustle (2013).

[11] He fell in love with film in his teens (his favorite movies included Taxi Driver, Chinatown, and Shampoo)[1] but aspired to become a writer; Russell started a newspaper in high school and wrote short stories.

[15] Russell directed a documentary about Panamanian immigrants in Boston,[17] which led to a job as a production assistant on a PBS series called Smithsonian World.

[6] Instead of the money going towards a feature about a fortune cookie writer, he decided to make Spanking the Monkey, a film about an incestuous mother-son relationship.

The film was produced by Dean Silvers, and starred Jeremy Davies as a troubled young man and Alberta Watson as his lonely mother.

The film follows a neurotic man (Ben Stiller) who travels with his wife (Patricia Arquette) and a high-strung caseworker (Téa Leoni) to find his biological parents.

The film also starred Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Alan Alda, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins, and Lily Tomlin.

[23] Roger Ebert said of the direction, "Russell finds the strong central line all screwball begins with, the seemingly serious mission or quest, and then throws darts at a map of the United States as he creates his characters.

"[25] The success of those two films led to the satirical Gulf War black comedy Three Kings (1999), starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze.

Adapted from an earlier script by former stand-up comic John Ridley, the film follows three American GIs who devise a plan to steal hidden Kuwaiti gold during the 1991 Iraqi uprising against Saddam Hussein.

Filmed in the deserts of Arizona, California and Mexico, and featuring actual Iraqi refugees as extras, Russell used several unique cinematic techniques to achieve a feeling of realism.

[26] It holds a 94% at Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus "Three Kings successfully blends elements of action, drama, and comedy into a thoughtful, exciting movie on the Gulf War.

[30] Nailed is a political comedy co-written by Russell and Kristin Gore, and stars Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tracy Morgan, Catherine Keener, Paul Reubens, James Brolin and Kirstie Alley.

"[33] The film revolves around the character of Alice Eckle (played by Jessica Biel) who gets accidentally shot in the head with a nail by a clumsy workman, eliciting wild sexual urges.

She meets an immoral congressman (Jake Gyllenhaal) who takes advantage of her sex drive and capitalizes on her crusade as Eckle heads into her own career in politics.

[44][45] Silver Linings Playbook is about a former teacher named Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper), who has bipolar disorder, and moves back in with his family.

He is initially obsessive about reuniting with his spouse after having discovered her with a lover and assaulting the man; however, the story explores the development of his relationship with Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence).

[50][51][52][53] Silver Linings Playbook won the People's Choice Award at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and garnered four Golden Globe Award nominations (with one win for Jennifer Lawrence, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy) and eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Russell), Best Adapted Screenplay (Russell), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Bradley Cooper), Best Actress in a Leading Role (winner, Jennifer Lawrence), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Supporting Actress (Jacki Weaver) and Best Film Editing (Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers).

The film's plot revolved around skilled con artists Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) being forced to work for unhinged FBI Agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).

Their complicated operation eventually involves Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) of Camden, New Jersey, as well as Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence).

[59] In January 2014, it was announced that Russell would rewrite and direct a comedy-drama film about American inventor and entrepreneur Joy Mangano, a struggling Long Island single mother of three children.

[72] A trailer was released in July 2022, announcing the casting of Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alessandro Nivola, Taylor Swift, and Robert De Niro.

[78] In January 2024, it was announced that Selena Gomez would portray the role of Linda Ronstadt in an untitled biopic to be directed by Russell, based on the memoir Simple Dreams.

"[82] In December 2024, Deadline Hollywood announced a new drama series in development at Apple TV+ called Bananas, with Russell directing and executive producing, and set to star Oscar Isaac and Ana de Armas.

[98] In 2013, Russell visited Washington, D.C., to meet with vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Debbie Stabenow to discuss a new bill regarding mental healthcare.

[99] In May 2014, Russell participated in a panel at Paley Center for the Media that discussed projects that have brought to light the stigmas and suffering associated with mental illness.

[112][113][114] Russell’s behavior was first reported in a 2004 The New York Times article[28] by Sharon Waxman in which she describes him calling Tomlin "the crudest word imaginable, in front of the actors and crew."

[119][120][121] According to Salon, in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack, it was revealed that Russell made Amy Adams' life "a living hell" during the production of American Hustle, and Christian Bale at one point intervened.

Salon reported that, in an email to Sony chief Michael Lynton, journalist Jonathan Alter said: "He grabbed one guy by the collar, cursed out people repeatedly in front of others and so abused Amy Adams that Christian Bale got in his face and told him to stop acting like an asshole."