American Hustle is based upon real events but changes many elements and thus is not an accurate depiction. It is a crime film in which a conman, Irving Rosenfeld, and his partner, Sydney, being caught by a FBI agent, Richie. They are then forced into helping the FBI catch corrupt politicians. Immediately, the film grabs you with its premise and it has strong pacing. As the film goes on, the scope of their operation becomes bigger and bigger. First it was other conman for actions such as forging, then it was to the local major, then to Congressmen and then to mafia. As the ambitions of Richie gets higher and higher, you feel that they are treading on thin ice. Naturally, Irving and Sydney are reluctant as the risks gets higher. There's a lot of planning and scheming going on, and as you get to know some of the characters, you feel that the bribes that the FBI are trying to entrap the politicians with, that it feels that the politicians have good intentions but going about it the wrong way. Thrown into the mix are complications involving relationships. Irving's wife is not painted in a good light and she is easily the most annoying and clueless character in the film. The film stalls a bit towards the end as the two hour length starts to show but it closes up pretty fast.