You must be the only person to think that Brühl was wooden in the film.

You must be the only person to think that Brühl was wooden in the film.

Bruhl is a better actor that his performance in Rush. I'm flabergasted at how easy you all are to praise him. Lauda was a tactician, sure, but he wasn't devoid of emotion. Bruhl played him in too much of a robotic way.

I could provide you with the German text, but I doubt it'll be of much help to you.

You've yet to provide me with Kingsley's interview.

Bruhl nails it as Lauda. He got him spot on.

Although formal reviews are verboten until early next month, I can say that from my vantage point, Russell, whose last two films Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and The Fighter (2010) were nominated for Best Picture and Director, as well as taking some acting Oscars, has another winner with a film that will have strong appeal particulary in the actors branch and at SAG. I also think, even in this fiercely contested year, Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Editing and Costume nods could be in the cards along with any number of possibilities for its superb ensemble including lead actor Christian Bale, lead actress Amy Adams, supporting actors Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner, and supportng actress Jennifer Lawrence. Especially Jennifer Lawrence. She is simply dazzling as Bale’s wife, a total knockout scene-stealer throughout. If she hadn’t already won last year as Best Actress for Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, there is no doubt she might be unbeatable here. At 23-years-old and the star of this weekend’s all-time November record breaker, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, she may well become the front runner anyway to take back-to-back Academy Awards after this performance gets seen. It’s prime Oscar bait. The actors, including voters I spoke to afterwards were clearly blown away. In fact the entire cast, which also includes a terrific unbilled one-scene cameo from Robert De Niro (who was nominated last year for Silver Linings) will certainly figure heavily for the SAG Outstanding Cast of a Motion Picture award. One person connected to the film to whom I spoke said early reaction had been on the mixed side, but I couldn’t detect that at this screening. It was all upbeat. Time will tell.

"American Hustle,” the David O. Russell film that has been considered a possible last-minute spoiler in this year’s awards race, was unveiled to Oscar watchers on Sunday in Santa Barbara and in Culver City on the Sony lot, and the initial verdict was … all over the place.

Early reactions on social media talked of a standing ovation for Russell at the Santa Barbara Film Society screening on Sunday afternoon, and of scattered boos at a SAG Nominating Committee screening on the Sony lot that night. I wasn’t in Santa Barbara so I can’t vouch for the ovation, but I was at Sony and certainly didn’t hear any boos.

Instead, the audience responded warmly, with applause that started immediately but died out relatively quickly.

The film doesn’t go down as smoothly as Russell’s last, “Silver Linings Playbook”; it’s odder and more ambitious, the kind of film that deserves contemplation rather than a rush to judgment.

If there was any kind of unanimous verdict, it was that Jennifer Lawrence steals the show as the wife of Bale’s character, a con-man who is forced to help the FBI with a sting that aims to take down mobsters and corrupt politicians.

And talk of Lawrence was the highlight of the post-screening Q&A, when Amy Adams was asked about a showstopping scene in which her character and Lawrence’s character hurl vicious insults at each other, and then end the encounter with a forceful kiss that brought applause from the SAG audience.

n a movie full of con artists, Jennifer Lawrence steals "American Hustle" as a dimwit floozy married to low-class shyster. She could easily pull off an Oscars heist next and do what no other star has ever done: win in a supporting race one year after prevailing in lead. That may seem unlikely if viewed as a demotion for today's hottest screen diva (thank you, "Hunger Games"), but Ingrid Bergman and Gene Hackman both took the step down after reigning in lead. However, there were many years in between their multiple wins.
Oscar nominations are also possible for Amy Adams and Christian Bale in lead and Bradley Cooper in supporting – all of them shine in colorful roles rich with psycho-comic complexity. Adams has the best shot at winning. This year the lead actress race is overstuffed with older past champs and voters usually lust after babes, of course, especially ones who are overdue. Adams is Oscarless after four past losses.

"American Hustle" will also be nominated for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and lots of crafts. It could bag hair and makeup, but the big nagging question is: Can it win Best Picture? Yes, if it picks up kudos momentum at the critics' awards. Up till now, it looked like "12 Years a Slave" had those trophies from New York and Los Angeles in the bag, but now "Hustle" offers the journos a fun quirky alternative that has art-house cred thanks to Russell's sainted status among cineastes.

Beware: "Wolf of Wall Street" will pounce on the derby very soon. Screenings start around Dec. 1. At that point will have a better idea of the top Oscar races and we can firm up our predictions, but for now it is safe to say that "American Hustle" lives up to early expectations and it poses a serious threat ahead.