Sex. Guns. Toupees. Wit. A whole lot of cleavage. Criminal activity. Perms.

American Hustle had it all. This two hour film with stellar cast Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner followed a successful con man named Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his sexy accomplice and true love, Sydney Prosser (Adams). Unfortunately, Rosenfeld has an adopted son, whom he loves, and is married to the boy’s mother, whom he doesn’t. The wife, played by Lawrence, is shallow, dumb and infuriatingly ditzy. The con team gets arrested by impulsive FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper) who arranges for them to work on a case to arrest high-up political figures, something Rosenfeld is hesitant to do. They end up trying to con the fantastic Jersey major Carmine Polito (Renner), who is the only good guy in the movie.

The movie made my head spin–in a good way. Bale was chubby (?! I’m willing to forgive this lapse in judgement), loveable even as a con man, brilliant and unreadable. He spent the whole movie seeming intimidated and frustrated with having to clean up Richie’s messes, but kicks butt when the time comes for it. He’s a con man in his own right.

Lawrence was, to be quite frank, near perfection. The only–only–thing I found problematic was her inconsistent Jersey accent, but it wasn’t distracting at all. She was funny and infuriating but played the character off perfectly. Some actors in big-name roles may have trouble shaking that image from people’s minds when they play different roles. However, nothing in Lawrence’s character reminded me of Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), and I loved her all the more for it.

Cooper was an idiot who you simultaneously hated and loved, even through that ridiculous head of curls. Adams was hot (she redefined “low-cut tops”), masterfully portraying a con woman. In actuality, she had to play two roles (Sydney and Sydney’s character, the British aristocrat with “banking connections”), which she does expertly. Renner plays the sweetheart of the film: the classy mayor who wants only to save his city with the help of his great pal Rosenfeld.

The costumes were ridiculous but right for the time; even as the necklines got lower, the hems of the dresses stayed tactfully long. The music was also right for the time, and the visuals were classic ‘70s.

This movie was complicated and quick, seeming slow but in reality only spinning the twists of the story tighter. David O. Russell wrote and directed this masterpiece of a movie, that entranced the eyes and minds of the viewers.