{"id":7847,"date":"2019-09-12T17:47:10","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T21:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=7847"},"modified":"2019-09-12T17:47:12","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T21:47:12","slug":"review-hustlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=7847","title":{"rendered":"Review: HUSTLERS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s a happening for the glamorous and talented J-Lo and rehabilitation for Constance Wu.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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When I saw the trailer for \u201cHustlers,\u201d I recoiled. Here\u2019s a derivative looking picture that is the female answer to \u201cMagic Mike.\u201d And with marketing in mind, the trailers betrayed the emotional depth of the actual narrative. Viewers expecting \u201cGirl\u2019s Trip\u201d with a crime angle will be surprised, because \u201cHustlers\u201d has an affecting message.

Desperate Destiny (Constance Wu) turns to dancing in a strip club to make ends meet. But when she joins the girls at a high-end establishment, she quickly realizes that the money doesn\u2019t come easy. After being enthralled by star dancer Ramona\u2019s electrifying stage performance (it literally rains dollar bills), she turns to the older, more experienced pro for some sage advice. And Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) is more than happy to take the new girl under her wing. In fact, when the two meet for a quick smoke break on the cold rooftop of the seedy business, it\u2019s Ramona who wraps her full-length mink coat around Destiny, preparing her for the strip club lifestyle.

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Friends and business partners, Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in 2007, under Ramona\u2019s auspices, Destiny starts to pull in some real cash. She\u2019s able to help her grandmother pay bills, and even gets a place of her own. But when Destiny becomes pregnant, she leaves the stage for a little while, only to find it hard to return. The crash of 2008 hit the club scene hard, but when all seems lost, the resourceful Ramona comes up with an idea. Why don\u2019t they troll the bars and pick up rich men, drug them, and then empty out their bank accounts with the help of the old showbar points of sale?

Pulled from a magazine article by Jessica Pressler, \u201cHustlers\u201d has fun with the bad girls and crime aspects, while still keeping it real\u2014crime only pays until you get caught. As Ramona\u2019s plan grows, and the big bucks roll in, you can see the toll that it takes on the women. Instead of investing and planning their escape, conspicuous consumption leads to an ever-expanding criminal enterprise. And even though Destiny and Ramona are smart, they make huge mistakes, largely the product of greed.

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Lopez gives lessons, and award voters should take notes.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The two performances at the center of \u201cHustlers\u201d hold it together. Surprisingly, after the glitz and sexy dances die-down, there\u2019s something meaningful remaining. Lopez has never been better. Not only does she give Destiny, and us, a poll-dancing tutorial, but she plays Ramona not like a movie-star playing a stripper, but like an actor inhabiting a character. There is a big difference, just ask Demi Moore. It\u2019s an impressive performance, worthy of awards recognition.

But as good as Lopez is, it\u2019s Wu who has something to prove here. Having shown us her good girl side in the hit \u201cCrazy Rich Asians\u201d and then hurting her reputation by complaining publicly that \u201cFresh off the Boat\u201d was renewed for another season, this film comes at a particularly important time in her young career. Wu is an undeniably good actress, and as Destiny, she is given a role that lets her do more than wear skimpy outfits and strut around. This is a story about friendship.

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What your debit card gentlemen!<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are key moments in the film\u2019s closing act that hooked me. As a means of telling the story, a journalist named Elizabeth (a well-cast Julia Stiles) interviews Destiny and Ramona. They each talk with Elizabeth separately. At first, they are guarded and carefully tip-toe around certain aspects of their wild history. But the real juicy stuff concerns what happened between the two savvy women. Why did they part ways? Can they ever fix what is broken between them?

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Frank Whaley plays a Wall Street fat cat, who becomes an easy mark.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Destiny is the focus as she probes for information about what Ramona may have said about her. At first, this seems a bit juvenile and catty\u2014reactions that Elizabeth is happy to take advance of. But as Destiny gets more intense, you realize that she is hurting; she\u2019s lost an important friend; there\u2019s a longing. And Ramona feels it too. The tender nature of these sequences should resonate with anyone who fell out with someone close to them. It\u2019s not about sex or money or power, but about trust and confidence.

\u201cHustlers\u201d isn\u2019t the movie you\u2019re expecting.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J-Lo and Wu make a really good team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[631,1342,79,1732,1765],"class_list":["post-7847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-constance-wu","tag-crime","tag-drama","tag-hustlers","tag-jennifer-lopez","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7855,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7847\/revisions\/7855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}