Le coup du siècle

I saw the bad rating, and as always, still decided to see for myself. I ordered on vudu, and again, as always, I enjoyed the movie, despite the negativity...so go figure. Not sure why the hate on this movie. Just doesn't make sense. It was funny, and all around entertaining. I laughed nonstop. Im not really a fan of Anne Hathaway, but I am a huge fan of Rebel Wilson. The pair worked well together. Yes, Hathaway's fake accent wasn't the best, but it wasn't enough to make me hate the film. The people rating this a 1 and 2 are just ridiculous. You can't take those serious, because its just unrealistic. Not oscar worthy, but funny and entertaining. This movie is not meant to be taken seriously. Its a comedy. And that is exactly what it was.

Wilson's persona and jokes are really running on fumes at this point. Finally getting the chance to fully display her array of talents nowadays, you realize she is probably just a one-trick pony. The Hustle desperately needed a splash of genius but it is nowhere to be found. A couple of gags worth chuckling about, but the film as a whole is a painful chore to get through. Predictable and nothing to remember it by.

...but I thought it was very funny! Admittedly in a bum on seat, brain in neutral, don't expect to be stretched way. Nearly every review I've seen criticised some aspect of the film... Anne Hathaway's English accent was not accurate, but I thought it was ok... nearer James McAvoy than Russell Crowe. Rebel Wilson not funny? I beg to differ! We are talking slapstick rather than satire but I was kept amused and actually laughed out loud a few times. Not as much as my daughter who was in stitches practically the whole way through but enough that I knew I was watching a comedy. This film is never going to appear in an academic text on theory and practice of cinematography or even a 500 films you need to see before you die list but It is great if you just want a kick back and relax session.

I watched this at home on DVD from my public library, my wife skipped, she had a good e-book.

In a brief review, this same story, with a few changes, was the 1964 movie "Bedtime Story" with Marlon Brando and David Niven. Then the 1988 movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Steve Martin and Michael Caine. And now in 2019 "The Hustle", the biggest change being two female characters as the scoundrels, the hustlers.

"Scoundrels" is one of my favorite movies, I have watched it at least a dozen times over the years, so for me watching "The Hustle" was mostly to compare how they handled similar scenes. While I like both Wilson and Hathaway their characterizations are clearly inferior to the analogous roles created by Martin and Caine. The biggest thing this movie does for me is reinforce how good "Scoundrels" is.

For anyone who has never seen "Scoundrels" this will likely be a good watch, suitably entertaining. For all who have seen "Scoundrels" this remake offers very little.

I liked it better as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, with Steve Martin