Hustlers (C or 2/4 stars)
A group of strip club dancers band together to steal $$ from rich men in 'Hustlers', a based on a true story drama written/directed by Lorene Scarafia. The film opens in 2007 as the camera follows Dolores, or "Destiny" (Constance Wu, of Crazy Rich Asians), the new exotic dancer at Manhattan's 'Moves', a high-end strip joint that caters to wealthy Wall Street investors. It is not long before veteran dancer Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) takes Destiny under her 'fur coat' wing, teaches her the tricks of the trade {fantastic pole dance sequences}, & makes $$ alongside her. But then the 2008 economic crash happens. With family responsibilities & a baby with her ne'er-do-well boyfriend, Destiny ditches dancing, and she & Ramona drift apart.
A few yrs. later & desperate for work, Destiny returns to 'Moves' to find that place is no longer the cash machine it was in its heyday. Realizing that men high on spiked drinks & ecstasy lose all credit card restraint, Ramona reunites with & convinces Destiny to join her + 2 other dancers, Mercedes (Keke Palmer) & Annabelle (Lili Reinhart), in drugging their 'clients' & maxing out their cards while they're in an impaired state. The $$ comes rolling in. But after duped customers overcame their embarrassment ... a few start talking to the cops. In the wake of their criminal activity (2011-14), Destiny & {separately} Ramona wind up being interviewed by a reporter, Elizabeth (Julia Stiles), who is doing a story on the women & their ploy.
So, I was super let down by 'Hustlers'. I found it crushingly average with bad, cliched dialogue, montage plotting & little depth. The script contains the banal, slice-of-life dialogue that is common to films of this ilk. It ain't fun listening to them talk among themselves. I did not care for or sympathize with these women. They were pretty heartless, predatory people doing horrible things to some other despicable people -- I found it all depressing. Really, the film peaks in the 1st 20 minutes {trashy fun}, then nosedives into simplistic storytelling and, the entertainment factor drizzled away. I also think a lot of people will be disappointed that the "fun"/strip scenes end early. Critics seem to be praising what this movie stands for, and not the art, itself.
Though I enjoyed her in Crazy Rich Asians, I did not find Constance Wu convincing, here. J.Lo was good & looked absolutely amazing; no shock, there. But I think she's "good" in all her crap movies. This movie just happened to be a little better than the usual crap. If I'm being honest, J.Lo is basically playing a variation of herself; confining herself to selling her brand of 'sexy diva'. The only difference seems to be that she's playing a harder, b*tchier version of what is mostly likely herself in real life. As for the other performances: mostly lesser actresses & pop stars (vile Cardi B, ugh) who stink up the big screen. And I grew tired of the running gag of Lili Reinhart's character throwing up due to her nervous stomach.
Greater exploration of the characters would have benefitted the movie, greatly. There's something shallow, rushed & uneven about the way the story sets up the motivations for the scam (needing to provide for their families), the planning of it, becoming addicted to $$, holding power over the men who once dictated their lives, & the eventual collapse of their scheme. I thought about the brilliant Boogie Nights (1997) while watching this film - both show the rise, hedonism & fall of people in the skin trade - and this film doesn't hold a candle to it in ANY regard. And as I said earlier, it just fails to entertain. It's too trashy to be considered an art film & not trashy enough a la Showgirls. I learned nothing new about the plight of strippers. And honestly ... I think that the "female cast, female writer/director, female empowerment hook, J.Lo good in a Fall Festival movie that will be a box office hit" has masked what is really not an exceptional film, at all.
A few yrs. later & desperate for work, Destiny returns to 'Moves' to find that place is no longer the cash machine it was in its heyday. Realizing that men high on spiked drinks & ecstasy lose all credit card restraint, Ramona reunites with & convinces Destiny to join her + 2 other dancers, Mercedes (Keke Palmer) & Annabelle (Lili Reinhart), in drugging their 'clients' & maxing out their cards while they're in an impaired state. The $$ comes rolling in. But after duped customers overcame their embarrassment ... a few start talking to the cops. In the wake of their criminal activity (2011-14), Destiny & {separately} Ramona wind up being interviewed by a reporter, Elizabeth (Julia Stiles), who is doing a story on the women & their ploy.
So, I was super let down by 'Hustlers'. I found it crushingly average with bad, cliched dialogue, montage plotting & little depth. The script contains the banal, slice-of-life dialogue that is common to films of this ilk. It ain't fun listening to them talk among themselves. I did not care for or sympathize with these women. They were pretty heartless, predatory people doing horrible things to some other despicable people -- I found it all depressing. Really, the film peaks in the 1st 20 minutes {trashy fun}, then nosedives into simplistic storytelling and, the entertainment factor drizzled away. I also think a lot of people will be disappointed that the "fun"/strip scenes end early. Critics seem to be praising what this movie stands for, and not the art, itself.
Though I enjoyed her in Crazy Rich Asians, I did not find Constance Wu convincing, here. J.Lo was good & looked absolutely amazing; no shock, there. But I think she's "good" in all her crap movies. This movie just happened to be a little better than the usual crap. If I'm being honest, J.Lo is basically playing a variation of herself; confining herself to selling her brand of 'sexy diva'. The only difference seems to be that she's playing a harder, b*tchier version of what is mostly likely herself in real life. As for the other performances: mostly lesser actresses & pop stars (vile Cardi B, ugh) who stink up the big screen. And I grew tired of the running gag of Lili Reinhart's character throwing up due to her nervous stomach.
Greater exploration of the characters would have benefitted the movie, greatly. There's something shallow, rushed & uneven about the way the story sets up the motivations for the scam (needing to provide for their families), the planning of it, becoming addicted to $$, holding power over the men who once dictated their lives, & the eventual collapse of their scheme. I thought about the brilliant Boogie Nights (1997) while watching this film - both show the rise, hedonism & fall of people in the skin trade - and this film doesn't hold a candle to it in ANY regard. And as I said earlier, it just fails to entertain. It's too trashy to be considered an art film & not trashy enough a la Showgirls. I learned nothing new about the plight of strippers. And honestly ... I think that the "female cast, female writer/director, female empowerment hook, J.Lo good in a Fall Festival movie that will be a box office hit" has masked what is really not an exceptional film, at all.