FILM · 2013 · USA
American Hustle
- Directed by
- David O. Russell
- Runtime
- 138 min
- Studio
- Annapurna Pictures, Atlas Entertainment
68 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
A conman and his seductive partner are forced to work for a wild FBI agent, who pushes them into a world of Jersey power-brokers and the Mafia.
Summary: TMDB
American Hustle — Career & Awards (8 facts)
- #018
This is the second consecutive film directed by David O. Russell (after Silver Linings Playbook, 2012) to be nominated for Academy Awards in all four acting categories and in all five major categories (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay). Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper were nominated for both films, for Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and for this film, in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories and in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories respectively.
- #019
With The Irishman (2019), Gangs of New York (2002) and True Grit (2010), it achieved the third-highest number of Oscar nominations with eleven, and with eleven nominations it won nothing, following The Turning Point (1977) and The Color Purple (1985).
- #027
It is the first and (as of 2018) only film to receive Oscar nominations in all seven major categories — Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Screenplay — and to win in none of them.
- #040
This is the third film to be nominated for Oscars in all four acting categories without winning any of them. The other two are My Man Godfrey (1936) and Sunset Boulevard (1950).
- #051
The film's cast includes three Oscar winners: Christian Bale, Robert De Niro and Jennifer Lawrence; and three Oscar nominees: Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner.
- #054
Co-stars Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper would later compete for the Best Actor Oscar at the 2019 Academy Awards (for films released in 2018). Bale was nominated for playing Dick Cheney in Vice (2018), while Cooper played Jackson Maine in A Star Is Born (2018). This represented their fourth acting nominations. All of these performances were in films nominated for Best Picture, including both actors' work in this film.
- #055
Christian Bale had prior connections to his co-stars Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner before this film. Bale won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in The Fighter (2010) and was also competing against Renner, who was nominated for The Town (2010). Meanwhile, Cooper parodied Bale in a Saturday Night Live (1975) sketch titled "No Bruce! Let Me Finish!" inspired by Bale's notorious outburst on the set of Terminator Salvation (2009).
- #065
The film reunites four lead actors from David O. Russell's two previous films, The Fighter (2010) and Silver Linings Playbook (2012). Two of them (Christian Bale, Amy Adams) appeared in The Fighter and were nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role, with Bale winning his category. The other two (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence) appeared in Silver Linings Playbook and were nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Leading Role, with Lawrence winning her category. All four were nominated again for this film, but switched categories: Bale and Adams were nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Leading Role, while Cooper and Lawrence were nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Despite the film's ten Oscar nominations, none of them won in their category.
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