Hustlers

I've seen this film getting constant hate before it's release and I honestly did not understand why and upon watching it for myself, I really don't understand. Hustlers is one of the most surprising films of the year with an intriguing true story and stellar performances with a possible career best performance from Jennifer Lopez.

The film follows a group of strippers as they hustler their way to the top to get back at Wall Street men that frequent their club as they try to make their lives better. It's a simple story, there's nothing particularly flashy about it and that's what works about it.

Hustlers settles for something interesting, but never goes into the gritty details and that's perfectly fine. It's just trying to have a lot of fun with itself and that is brought out by these performances. Constance Wu continues her great work in this film and truly is the heart of the film and her friendship with Jennifer Lopez's character is phenomenal. Speaking of Lopez she is excellent in this film. She gives an unhinged performance that only she could have pulled off in this way.

The film manages to be fun and enjoyable while also touching on ideas of poverty and the 99%. It's never super deep, but it doesn't seem to be going for that. It's unhinged at times and can be a funny film as well. It just manages to work and flow into a very entertaining ride.

I don't understand the reviews on this site. This movie is definitely not a 1. I came out of the cinema loving it.

At no point during did I feel like the main players were hero's, but neither were they villains. And I feel like that was the point. You were meant to feel uncomfortable with the decisions they made. It's not a movie about girl power. It's about these women reacting to the circumstances they were put in.

The great thing about it is that it is solely focused on the women and their stories. All the men in the movie are background pieces. They are there to play a specific role but that's all, they don't particularly matter except for what they add to the women. For me, that is what is "girl power".

When you're watching a movie about bad people doing bad things (gangster movies, financial crime pictures etc.) its naturally hard to sympathize with the characters. The movie has to do the extra work so you can picture walking in their shoes so you can see why the characters are doing what they're doing. My blueprint for accomplishing this (or the best template to follow) is the Martin Scorsese comedy The Wolf of Wall Street. Jordan Belfort (the protagonist played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his buddy are TERRIBLE human beings, they're criminals, they're bigots and sexists and they don't care whose lives their ruining to get what they want (bigger parties, more women and most of all more money). But the ride is so crazy and watching them just splurge on anything and everything, its so fun that you let go of your morality just to join them on this journey. This is something that Hustlers manages to do and if this hadn't been accomplished, the movie would have dropped like a stone. The actions of Ramona (Jennifer Lopez), Destiny (Constance Wu) and their partners in crime are awful, sure their victims are @$$holes, but they're still drugging them, stealing all of their money then using their positions as strippers to shame them into not reporting them. If the genders were switched, this would be a horror movie. Luckily, the camaraderie between the girls is so strong and its so fun to watch them enjoy the fruits of their labours, you can put the morality of their actions aside and just follow them. I enjoyed watching this movie just for the performances and the vibe it exudes with these women pulling one over on "The Man."

I try to never count actors or actresses out, you never know if they're going to get that rebound role that suits their talents or if they just haven't been pitched on that movie that will make their career. Maybe they're taking gigs just for the paycheque? For example, I really disliked Robert Pattison and then I saw him in Water for Elephants and The Lost City of Z and I realized that maybe he wasn't a hack after all. Jennifer Lopez is another performer who falls in this category for me. She's always been beautiful but I've never liked her work as an actress or as a singer. Hustlers was that movie that changed my mind about her. The movie highlights how stunning she is but I thought her performance in this was excellent. She commanded the screen, she exuded power and confidence whenever the camera was on her and she made you want to believe in Ramona even after she turned the corner. She also had really good chemistry with Wu and the rest of the cast. I applaud her for her work here, I don't know if she'll win an Oscar but this is the best work I've seen from her and I wouldn't be surprised if there's some award recognition her future.

This is not to sell Wu short either, this is a big departure from Crazy Rich Asians and Hustlers shows she has a lot of range. I already mentioned that Lopez and her work well together butWu helps carry the viewer through this wild ride. She manages to be funny but she also digs deep in the more serious moments. This is solid work for sure. The supporting cast was really good across the board. I want to credit Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Julia Stiles (who is good but very low key) and Mercedes Ruehl for performing capably and they all had their moments. The only one I'll single out is Cardi B, she isn't bad but she's playing it up really hard and she could have toned it down just a little.

This movie does have some minor hurdles to get over. The first is the aforementioned morality problem which the movie both addresses but also sweeps under the rug. I didn't have a problem with it but it is a present issue. The next is that if you take a step back and look at the arc of the plot, this is also the generic rise and fall gangster story. Its filmed beautifully and its a lot of fun, but if you need something wholly original, this movie doesn't cut it. My final point is that they really rush the segment where the girls get their comeuppance. The movie ends like someone skimming the last few pages and then slams the book shut. I don't know if they thought it was running long and they needed to wrap it up or if that just wasn't the focus but it ends pretty abruptly.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. I did get to the movie 5-10 minutes late, I saw this with a friend and we entered right when JLO was doing her first dance (it was an awkward moment to enter when you're seeing this with a female friend). It does follow the same beats as a lot of other stories but I credit director Lorene Scafaria and her creative team for finding a new angle on this type of story and the cinematography is noteworthy for a movie that just takes place in the city. Hustlers isn't flawless but it more than does enough to get the job done. If the subject matter doesn't make you squeamish (which it shouldn't... maybe don't watch this with the kids though) check it out on your preferred streaming service. I would tell you to see it in the theatre but I'm late getting this review up and its probably gone by now.

After seeing some of the big praise the film has had including talks of Oscar nominations for Lopez I expected a lot lot more from the film. It was still ok but reasonably good rather than anything exceptional with multiple flaws.

J-Lo was amazing in this role, as was Constance Wu, but novice writer and director Lorene Scafaria did an ok job directing, but the screenplay was garbage, with many plot and technical issues, especially towards the end. The pacing was too slow for the story, and the 110 min run-time felt like 3 hours. And the abrupt scene cuts by editor Kayla Emter... a kindergartener with plastic scissors could've done a better job. Aside from this being based on real events and (surprisingly also cast) Cardi B's acknowledgement she's done this, I do agree that this "girl power" garbage has got out of hand. I wasn't impressed with all the gal's playing victims and none of the men they robbed weren't. Clearly a one sided opinion coming from an entirely all-female production. That alone lost points from me. This film is not even close to the fake 10's - it's barely at best a 7/10, but also not worthy of all the 1's and 2's (production value alone is at least a 4). It's an honest 6/10 from me, most points for the leads performances.