Wright or Wrong: Hustlers

Director Lorene Scafaria wears her Martin Scorcesee influence on her sleeve in just about every aspect of "Hustlers," from character dynamics to editing.

The story of strippers banding together to get through the fallout of the mid-2000s financial recession by turning to violating the rights and privacy of the upper class that they serve and are often abused by, only to fall victim to the same excess necessitating them to do so to survive an unforgiving and unbalanced capitalist society, is laden with "rise and fall" gangster tropes that aren't bound to win any originality contests any time soon.

Courtesy images

Despite the influence oozing from its marketing material however, don't be fooled into thinking that the film's stock stylistic choices hold it back from being one of the better flicks of 2019 thus far. Execution is the name of the game "Hustlers" delivers on in spades.

On top of the unique application of the gangster movie style to the premise of intelligent women struggling to get by, with a pleasantly surprisingly progressive perception on their chosen vocation, which isn't particularly denegrated, condemned, or exploited for sleazy visual titlation beyond the needs of the story itself, the story that unfolds cleverly holds up a mirror to the capitalist society that we live in and indicts the institutions that make the heinous crimes its protagonists commit necesarry to survive, without exonerating them for their willingness to set up a full ring for the act while treating themselves to lavish and extravaggant treats on a regular basis comporable to the excess of the crop of people that they justify screwing over without discrimination.

All of this is presented within a tightly edited and stylish package that is held together by stupendous performances. Jennifer Lopez may put forth one of the absolute best acting jobs of her career, owning her presence and slightly older age gracefully and charismatically, while Constance Wu demonstrates a level of leading lady potential that has me excited to see what's to come of her already impressive career.

"Hustlers" may come across as cinematic comfort food on the surface but the strength of its tight execution in direction, cinematography, editing, craftsmanship, and performances give it an extra leg up of lesser similar films as well as hopefully putting several careers on public radars that deserve to be followed.

4 out of 5