HUSTLERS
Forget the Year of the Pig, it seems like we are in the Year of Jennifer Lopez and HUSTLERS is just another stop on the star's tour de force. The first twenty minutes of the film, while attempting to set the stage for the plot, are essentially a “look how great J.Lo looks wearing barely any clothes" montage. It's kind of like when you go to see a Pixar movie and they have an animated short before the film. It’s cute and even somewhat inspiring but by the end you just want to get to the real movie. Thankfully when the story does pick up it is has more to it than just pole dancing. After the economy crashes in 2008 and strip clubs are no longer the cash cow they once were, struggling dancers Destiny (Constance Wu), Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) and their two friends (Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart) come up with a plan to lure rich men to the strip club, spike their drinks and then run up their credit cards while taking a cut from the total bill. Narrated by Destiny, the film toggles back and forth between these events in the past and the telling of that story to a reporter in the present. The back and forth between a markedly different looking present day Destiny and the story as it unfolds is really well done and makes the film all the more interesting. Wu is great as Destiny. For someone who is committing wire fraud and larceny, she somehow manages to be likable and relatable. Lopez’s Ramona is like a tornado-she is everywhere, all high energy all the time but underneath there is a vulnerability that she is clearly overcompensating for. It’s a role that I really liked watching Lopez play. The supporting cast is great. Palmer and Reinhart bring refreshing comedic relief and the dynamic of the four women is fun to watch. The music is also fantastic. It's effectively a greatest hits tour of late 2000/early 2010 pop chart toppers and I am definitely here for it.
Overall, the movie was fun to watch, and I did like it, but if you’ve read The Cut article it is based off of then you know exactly what will happen which ultimately takes away from the movie. It actually made it a bit boring so if you are planning on seeing this film don't read the article before. The film does touch on the economic issues of the time-wall street greed, the recession and the impact on the middle class- and four strippers out of work is an interesting lens to view the devastation that was 2008 through. The whole thing does begin to rely a little too much on the flash of wealth that these women come in to and starts to drag a bit because of the focus on it. By the end I was like okay, I get it, they stole a lot of money and bought expensive stuff. Then again, I guess that’s the whole point of the film and if you can’t enjoy a pair of bedazzled Louboutins purchased with stolen money do you even know what fun is?