For those who can't wait for David O. Russell's follow-up to Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle opens on December 20.  To whet your appetite, Sony has provided us with four clips and eight minutes of behind-the-scenes footage.  The script by Russell and Eric Singer is based on the Abscam sting operation of the late 1970s.  A con artist team (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) work with an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to root out political corruption.  Jennifer Lawrence and Jeremy Renner also star.

American Hustle already won its first Best Picture critics' award and the Oscar buzz is building, so it's time to get excited.  Hit the jump to watch the clips and behind-the-scenes footage.

Movie Clips

Behind-the-Scenes Footage

Official synopsis:

A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).  DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that’s as dangerous as it is enchanting.  Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Like David O. Russell’s previous films, American Hustle defies genre, hinging on raw emotion, and life and death stakes.