The Hustle

Well.... I think the trailer is more funny than the movie itself. The script is not well written. Not many funny scenes and the acting..... was not impressed. At first I had high expectation because of the two main characters and was hoping to see great chemistry. Unfortunately it didn't deliver.

Sir Michael Caine once said "Rather than remake a good movie, remake a bad one, you can only improve it" Advice not taken in this instance. Lately Anne Hathaway has made a habit of making bad remakes or sequels of hit movies (Oceans 8, The Hustle). She has the talent to make good movies,But is making schlock like this.

"The Hustle" is an OK movie to watch with your partner and is perfectly servicable for one and done watch, but it's not anything more than that. It's clearly a movie made for women's night out and that's not what makes it not good per se, because it offers something for both sexes to laugh at. Instead, it's the fact that most of the jokes are focused on putting our characters in socially awkward situations which is supposed to make us laugh, but in reality, a lot of the jokes fall flat. No, it's not all that funny to embarass yourself publicly, it's the way how it's done that makes it funny. The more chaotic and unhinged it is in its showcase of things spiraling out of control, the funnier it is. I think that Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson do a great job considering the circumstances, but it's not enough to elevate the movie from its mediocrity. Still, the movie does what it set out to do, and that's to offer the watcher an entertaining hour and a half and it does so well enough before it deservedly fades into oblivion. I give it 6/10 and I recommend it for a relaxing afternoon!

While not an academy award winning movie in any way, it was funny and refreshing like an old fashioned movie. Thank God no Marvel, or sex scenes or F words, or car crashes or special CGI effects. Wish there were more movies like this where you can enjoy a laugh without cringing or seeing another special effect. Loved Anne Hathaway. Her accents alone are worth the price of admission. So enjoy a good old movie with a plot that is funny and performances that are arresting. Don't listen to the bad notices. Everybody wants to see blood and guts nowadays. What a tragedy.

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.