Sometimes,
comparisons between unrelated movies come into my head and I’m unable to shake
those notions. Watching this film, I thought, “I bet this is the kind of movie
that Ocean’s 8 wanted to be.” That
maybe isn’t fair to Ocean’s 8, but
it’s what came to mind when I saw Hustlers.
While I enjoyed the former in spite of itself somewhat, the latter is just a
great movie.
Inspired
by a true story, Hustlers follows a
group of New York strippers who decide to take matters into their own hands.
Following the Wall Street crash of 2008, the recession of course hits
everywhere, but these women have it particularly hard, since most of their
best-paying clientele were finance guys who imploded in the crash. The group,
led by Ramona and Destiny, concoct a scheme to take men who broke the economy
and got away unscathed, and milk them for all they’re worth.
Just a
great film all around. Both engaging and entertaining, populated by characters
who do plenty of bad things for some sympathetic reasons. You don’t exactly
root for them in their crimes – while some of what they do is highly
understandable, other elements of the operation really give you pause – but
you’re invested in seeing where this journey takes them. I love, the ingenuity
they bring to developing their scheme, the way they roll with the punches of
complications that arise, and how the relationships between them change as they
get in deeper and deeper.
I really
like a lot of the little details about the ins and outs of being a stripper.
There’s the exploitation, of course (the predatory owners who skim the women’s
earnings, the casual insults and demands they hear from patrons,) but there’s a
lot more, showing numerous sides of that line of work. Some of these details
include the hassles of dating life (jealous boyfriends, wanting to do anything other than be sexy on your night off)
and the tools of the trade (I love the scene of Ramona tutoring Destiny on
various moves on the pole, followed by a scene of another woman teaching her
the finer points of the lap dance.)
Even
better, though, are the complex relationships between the major characters. At
the head of the pack are Destiny and Ramona – their relationship is many
things, and no matter what direction the film takes it in, it’s always powerful. But really, the whole group is
great, a kind of found family who care about and look out for each other but
who also argue, disagree, and let each other down. All my favorite scenes in
the movie involve these central relationships, nothing more or less than
depictions of the closeness between them.
Fine cast,
headed by Constance Wu as Destiny and Jennifer Lopez as Ramona. Both are
excellent individually and even better together, lighting up the screen in
their shared scenes. Rounding out the main crew is Keke Palmer (who I previously
knew best as the title character in Akeelah
and the Bee, so she’s grown up a lot since then!) and Lili Reinhart (Betty
Cooper herself,) and Julia Stiles plays a supporting role as the reporter who
wrote the article that inspired the film.
Warnings
Sexual
content (including nudity,) language, drinking/smoking/drug use, and thematic
elements.
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