Review - Hustlers

Hustlers is the true(ish) to life story of a bunch of strippers who drug some dudes and then rob them. We could leave it there but that would be a disservice to the film, hence why I'm reviewing it. As many have pointed out, this is essentially a gender flipped version of Goodfellas, except about exotic dancers instead of mobsters. They're both true life stories that feel so much bigger than their loglines imply, that nominally have lead characters but work best as ensembles and are also just really damn fun. The plot here is about a new dancer called Destiny, played by Constance Wu, who is brought under the wing of an experienced dancer called Ramona, played by Jennifer Lopez. She teaches her the way to milk these men of money and the two support each other, until the 2008 financial crisis. They find each other again afterwards and now under desperate times, they start to drug and rob the very Wall Street dickheads who brought about this whole disaster and it's to the immense credit of the film that this never feels like too unreasonable a line to cross. These women are framed as modern day Robin Hood figures and you completely believe them as that, feeling no ill will toward them. This whole tale, however, is framed by Destiny telling her story to a journalist and this framing device really slows the film for me. Whenever we cut back to that, I sighed a bit and started twiddling my thumbs. Not to make the comparison again but Goodfellas manages to use narration but keep the framing device absent and therefore the pace soars. It's a little thing but smoothed out, this slick piece could be far slicker.

Much of the hype around Hustlers has been on the cast, so let's get straight to them. Leading this ensemble as Destiny is Constance Wu, last seen in Crazy Rich Asians. I wasn't the biggest fan of that movie and I thought Wu was just fine in it but her work here is a definite improvement. Her character's arc is all about huge shifts in confidence and I believed every single one of them. Joining her is a bevvy of talented women, including Lili Reinhart from Riverdale, one of the most ridiculous shows on TV right now. She essentially plays a version of her character Betty here, adding little more than a lot of vomiting, but she is entertaining enough at that. There is also Keke Palmer who I last saw in Scream Queens, something that rivals the trash of Riverdale, who is also good here. Again, unremarkable but a charming on screen presence. Wrapping it all up, there's a couple of cameos from some pop stars that last just long enough not to be annoying, but the bright shining star of this piece is absolutely Jennifer Lopez, who is already earning Oscar buzz for this. Do I think she's Oscar worthy? Maybe not, we'll see how the rest of awards season shakes out, but she is certainly an absolute riot on screen. From an opening scene whose bravery and power could have entire essays dedicated to it, to a fur coat that shields the rest of the girls from harm, to a enigmatic yet rarely malevolent aura that follows her around on screen, this is her movie and she is delivering work so good, it could almost make you forget Gigli. On their own, all are good but together, they're an unstoppable force, bouncing off each other with stunning ferocity. They all steal the show.

As I was watching this film, there was a much, much worse film I was reminded of: Paul Verhooven's Showgirls. Now, I have seen Showgirls twice at this point because of how hysterically awful it is and for that, I highly recommend it. As an insight into the world of Las Vegas stripping however, it is completely abysmal. Hustlers fortunately manages to avoid the nasty traps of that mess and I think a lot of credit simply comes down to a female perspective, because where the two diverge creatively is that the director and writer of Hustlers are women, instead of the all male perspective of Showgirls. As the parade of flesh that makes up Showgirls continues, boobs, bums and bush become more boring than is even comprehensible because they're simply treated like objects with catchphrases and poseable holes. The women of Hustlers, conversely, are just that, women, fully fleshed out but so much more than mere flesh. The camera never leers at them, instead encouraging jeering at the men they're ripping off, making the whole damn affair feel really really fun. Adding to the fun is some pitch perfect needle drops scattered around, ranging from Gimme More to Royals, all the way over to Night Moves. The score for this film was completely forgettable but these little flourishes of pre-existing music give the audio the exact energy needed. On that note, there's a couple of neat little cinematic tricks the film employs, including one later in the film with "botched" audio that confused much of the audience but delighted those who got it. Flair like that in a crowd-pleaser of a movie always shows genuine attention to detail and care from the creative team and seeing it here made me grin as much as anything else did.

This film is just really, really fun, I hope that's come across. I can't say I love the American movie-going audience much but their reactions to Hustlers helped make it the joy it was. The structure evokes some of cinema's greatest gangster movies, the performances charm the g-string off of you and the construction around them is totally rock solid. Unless you find the idea of rooting for strippers an idea that is entirely incomprehensible, this is a really easy recommendation and I'll happily give Hustlers an