Hustlers (2019)

[baumer]

Discuss

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

Really enjoyed this! Ramona and Destiny had such an interesting and complicated friendship. JLo is fantastic but I thought Wu was very good in a less flashy role. Destiny's relationship with her grandmother was touching, it was good to learn that she wasn't totally naive and had maybe lived a little when she was young. Should have known she was doomed, I teared up when Ramona appeared at the funeral in one of those giant coats.

 

Every time the women were shown on spending sprees I was thinking, "Come on ladies, think about your long-term future-more property, less bling!"  Destiny ended up buying herself a nice little house at least.

 

The soundtrack was a fun blast from the recent past. Usher had a whole song about being cool with dating strippers, of course he would be happy to cameo as himself. Lizzo's big moment, lol.

 

Julia Stiles was fine, the moment where she hesitates before drinking the tea is nice, but maybe the script could have done a little more for her than "stock journalist character". Cardi B made me laugh, I wonder if she got to ad-lib any of her lines. 

 

It will be a shame when JLo gets all the Supporting Actress nominations when she's clearly one of the leads, and the movie's true star supporting actress Madeline Brewer goes unrewarded all Oscar season.

[filmlover]

This definitely surpassed the initial expectations I had for this. An entertaining empowerment tale filled with energy (starting with the Magic Mike-esque strip club scenes that make up the bulk of the movie's first 30 minutes) that also renders the characters as believable individuals, showing the depths some will go to just to survive and make a living. Recent Twitter drama aside, Constance Wu continues to be a compelling presence, and everyone else in the cast provides good work, but the whole movie belongs to Jennifer Lopez in arguably the best role she's received since the Twin Towers were still standing. It's a magnetic performance that reminds us she's a more than capable actress and will hopefully open the door to her finally getting richer work again. I don't think the framing device of Wu retelling the story to reporter Julia Stiles was necessary, but that's a minor complaint when the rest works as well as it does. This joins The Wolf of Wall Street, The Big Short, and Molly's Game as movies from the past couple of years based on real-life events that make for an easily recommended time at the movies even if the subject matter doesn't immediately capture your attention. B+

Edited September 15, 2019 by filmlover

[Lordmandeep]

As someone who has business interests in the nightclub biz, this shit happened a lot...

 

Was interesting to see it on screen and it had a nice cast.

 

Personally, I dont think being a stripper means its right to steal guys money because all those guys are 'scum' but i dont think that was the moral of the movie

 

B

[CoolioD1]

wu and lopez are both strong but the movie doesn't develop their relationship enough. at least not enough for the ending to be emotional like they want it to be. wished they zeroed in on it a little more over the repetitive drugging montages. it's a fun time but could've been more. shout out keke palmer and madeline brewer who are both very good in smaller roles too. GREAT needle drops as well.

Edited December 2, 2019 by CoolioD1