I'm not sure what you're trying to extract - it's everywhere, it pervades every scene and every scene is a piece of a puzzle I have no interest in solving. If you don't see that, that's good for you!
This just sounds like you're projecting onto the film then. Or worse, you're just going along with the rather large critical opposition which is mostly a sect of reactionary critics to his films' collection of accolades (despite the fact that accolades has no bearing on the actual film).
Russell's films got nominated for X Academy Awards?! Clearly, it must be Oscar bait which means they're self-important and smug...It's a line of thinking that I've seen time and time again with vocal Russell detractors. They then go on to say how much of a dick Russell is on set like that has anything to do with the quality of his movies...
I don't see any smugness - because there isn't any. I would be the first to know too. These films aren't self-important but pointedly self-aware satires on American idealism. Silver Linings Playbook doesn't operate with any presumption of being an important film - it just focuses on the characters and how they're tied to the theme of the American Dream in conflict with collective mental illness. American Hustle argues in a pretty straightforward fashion that American identity is based on appreciating the imitation more than the original. These films aren't like Dennis Villeneuve or Inarritu beating the themes at you twenty-four frames per second with overt symbols or gestures. They're decidedly middlebrow and don't need to be examined to be enjoyed. It took me several viewings to see the layers underneath Playbook & Hustle, but they are there and they're pretty subtle too.
Even I Heart Huckabees mocks new age thinking pretty riotously while also respecting it.
Fine satire is pretty rare these days and often misinterpreted, verbals. You either tap in or you don't. I honestly don't get these smug claims though. Lack of evidence in the narrative doesn't propel conversation forward either.