“We have Diane von Furstenberg, we have Halston, we have Charles Jourdan,” David O. Russell, the film’s director, said at the New York premiere Sunday night at the Ziegfeld Theater. “We have Upper East Side elegance. We have outerborough style.”

He was joined on the red carpet by his stars, including Amy Adams, who plays a con woman with a penchant for slinky outfits and sky-high heels. “It was really fun,” said Ms. Adams, who arrived in a more understated shoulderless gown by Elie Saab.

Bradley Cooper, who plays a wily F.B.I. agent, was especially fond of his pinkie ring. And perm. “I miss it,” he said about his character’s curls. “I would try not to take a shower for as long as I could.”

Inside the theater, guests like Michael Stipe and Prabal Gurung took their seats as Amy Pascal, a co-chairwoman of Sony Pictures, walked to the front of the theater, microphone in hand, and praised Mr. Russell. The director’s films, she said, “take twists and turns entirely unexpected,” giving them the appearance of being improvised, when they’re actually polished and “methodical.”

“Every single thing is orchestrated to perfection,” she said.

Then Mr. Russell introduced his stars, a couple of whom were in absentia. One was Christian Bale, who had gone straight from the red carpet to the airport to catch a plane and play Moses in a planned Ridley Scott movie.

Another was Jennifer Lawrence. “Jennifer had to get on a plane to take her back to ‘Hunger Games,’ where she lives,” Mr. Russell said.

The audience didn’t seem to care much. For the next two hours, the crowd hooted and hollered at the overdone characters, the fighting and the backstabbing. Julie Taymor was particularly in awe of Mr. Bale, who looked seriously flabby and virtually bald in his role. “He was phenomenal,” she said.

The director James Toback said it was the best movie of the year.

As the credits rolled, attendees made their way to party buses headed for Cipriani 42nd Street, where the tables were decorated with mini disco balls and a D.J. played ’70s classics. Stefano Tonchi, the editor of W Magazine, was by the raw bar with his editor at large, Lynn Hirschberg. Bronson van Wyck was at a table with the movie producer Jason Blum.

Jeremy Renner, who plays a corrupt New Jersey politician in the film, was already nostalgic about the experience, save for the fact that it took nearly three hours every day to perfect his pompadour. “Put it this way,” he said. “All the guys’ hair took longer than the girls’.”

The exception was Louis C. K., who was sitting by him. “I’m the only bald guy in the movie,” he said. “The only honest guy.”
 

By JACOB BERNSTEIN   NYTIMES