Hustlers Review
follows a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.
R: For pervasive sexual material, drug content, language and nudity
Studios: STX Films, Gloria Sanchez Productions, Annapurna Pictures
Runtime: 1 Hour and 49 Minutes
Writer/Director: Lorene Scafaria
Cast: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo,. Cardi B
Release Date: September 13, 2019
Several years back, Gary Sanchez Productions co-founder Adam McKay wrote and directed The Big Short, a comedy about wealthy office-bound Wall Street salesmen and their illegal practices that led to the events of the financial market crash of 2008. Now, under McKay’s sister label Gloria Sanchez Productions, director Lorene Scafaria took McKay’s camera and centered it on the group of people whose lives were affected by those Wall Street salesmen they encountered on a daily basis: exotic dancers.
The crime film genre has taken many forms in the past decade, delivering some of the best of the genre in years, but lately it’s been so bland with the perspective setting the story on a group of gangsters and following the same ol’ design. Scafaria’s Hustlers is a refreshingly exhilarating crime story unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Yes, it follows the familiar structure of any narrative within this genre, but Scafaria’s thoughtful attention to detail in her storytelling while exploring the lives of exotic dancers through their perspective is one of the primary reasons why Hustlers is one of the strongest unexpected surprises of 2019.
Set in 2007, Destiny (Wu) is a low wage exotic dancer who starts out as the new girl in a popular New York strip club. She doesn't have the skills or techniques to impress, but then she meets Ramona Vega, a legendary veteran stripper who knows all the right moves to put a smile on a rich man’s face. Fascinated by Ramona’s show-stopping moves, Destiny seeks guidance from her. As Ramona openly takes Destiny under her wing, a la Training Day-style, they become a dynamic duo, sparking a strong friendship between the two. This is until the financial market crash of 2008 strikes, putting half of the men of Wall Street — the primary targets who carelessly cheat and scam their way into affecting America economics — out of business, which also affects the livelihood of these women. Many find themselves without a job, replaced by Russian models who work for cheap and are willing to do sex work. In response, Ramona hatches a plot to cheat and scam those exact men who screwed up the lives of many hard-working people. When the market changes, so do they as they take their business to the next level.
In 20th Century Steel Band’s song “Heaven and Hell Is on Earth”, which Jennifer Lopez sampled in her hit song that shall go unnamed, the opening verse goes:
Children grow and women producing
Men go working
Some go stealing
Everyone's got to make a living
I swear that Lorene Scafaria used those lyrics as the base for this incredibly engaging crime thriller. To top it off, they cast J. Lo in it, allowing her to shine like never before. Jenny from the Block is going straight for the gold this year, and you know what? It's what she deserves. The Best Supporting Actress competition is slim at the moment and J. Lo secures a spot in the race through her performance. SHE’S COMING FOR THAT OSCAR, BABY! THIS IS HER MOVIE! She absolutely dominates every scene with her wisdom and wit. It's one thing that she's 50 years old and is completely flawless, looking like she's one of the keepers of the fountain of youth alongside Keanu Reeves and Paul Rudd, but it's another to see her exhibit a personality full of charisma, wit, charm, and intelligence in a role that is perfect for her and NAILING it all the way through. This is her Denzel Washington moment in the sense that she expresses the same irresistibly commanding energy and confidence that glues you to the screen as they take their young prodigy on their training day, showing their tips and tricks — or, in her case, strips and tricks — to be the best in the business. As the song goes, everybody got to make a living. Strengthening her performance even more is her chemistry with the phenomenal Constance Wu, who delivers yet another fantastic leading performance full of conviction and gravitas as she sweeps herself into Ramona’s criminal world without setting aside too much morality. The electrifying sisterly/motherly bond that they share is one of the many burning factors the feature has going for it and you're completely enthralled by their journey and the challenges they face. Plus, if we're going to be honest, Scafaria’s script is the best material Lopez has been given for a film in decades. So, seeing her triumph while showcasing her bravado as a performer in a thoughtfully fleshed out role skyrockets her as one of the contenders for the best supporting performances of the year.
I did not expect writer/director Lorene Scafaria to snap this hard with the thoughtfulness she brings to this story, putting you in the frame of a woman’s surroundings as an exotic dancer. Never for a moment does her camera objectify its leads in a gratuitous way as she presents it as an art form with mind games that the workers take very seriously. From the hypnotic opening of the film — starting with a tracking shot of Constance Wu’s Destiny on her first day as a stripper — the audience is thrusted into her mindspace as it presents the environment of a stripper from the eyes of one and how it's not a glamorous occupation whatsoever. The way the women work in this field is a psychological, tactical mind game that they must conduct to win by using their femininity. It's truly enlightening to witness the exploration that Scafaria dives into that no other filmmaker — even Soderbergh with his male strippers — has managed to capture before.
The core of the story lies in the sisterhood of the strippers and their gender-specific scheme to stick it to the man by stealing the money they easily earn and waste. In male-perspective gangster movies, the central characters are always fueled by greed. In this vision, they’re fueled by their desire to get a taste of the good life while providing stability for themselves and their loved ones. It’s a relatable take that gets you invested in these characters. The juxtaposition between the lives of careless, money-hungry white dudes in business suits and how they the strippers at night in an endless cycle reflecting the classism of America is effectively chilling.
Elevating Scafaria’s direction is her impressive attention to detail on the technical side. There are areas in the sound design where the audio changes in context to give either the ulterior motives of the characters or their heightened mood that leaves you with chills. Also, leave it to the writer of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist to write a movie with the best music cues I’ve seen in ages. I can't get over how perfect the music cues are in this film. Each song not only sets a certain mood to a scene, but also authenticates the set of the certain year in which the story takes place while also expressing the mood that characters have towards each other. This movie has the best usage of Lorde’s “Royals” ever. Each song choice adds a different tone to the scene while also making me feel old because I forgot the release year of half of these songs. It feels like it was just yesterday that “Royals” came out. I don’t remember it being released in 2013.
I think my only issue here — and bear with me — is the lack of some of the star power. The film stars Cardi B and Lizzo and I honestly wanted more of them. Their performances are kind of like cameos and, while Cardi has more screen time showcasing her natural talent as an actress (who I would love to see in a comedy cause her big [redacted] energy is massive and her delivery and timing are spot on), it leaves you wanting more. Lizzo barely has any screen time and damn WILL SHE NOT TAKE THAT DAMN FLUTE EVERYWHERE?! It's like a prepackaged deal. With every Lizzo, you get her accessorized flute.They’re inseparable. Seriously, once you hear a few of those high-winded notes, you know she's there.
That being said, I don’t necessarily mind it cause one of the prominent supporting cast members who I was ecstatically surprised to see was Keke Palmer. She’s been doing her hustling on the small screen lately appearing in various television projects, but one should be thrilled to see her grace the big screen once again with her high octane energy and charisma. She reminds you that she is a superstar and deserves to be in high-profile films such as this one. Her energy is so strong that when she filled in for Sara Haines on the GMA afternoon program “Strahan & Sara”, her natural charisma made a huge impression on everyone. She immediately became an additional co-host and rebranded the series as “GMA3: Strahan, Sara and Keke”. THAT’S HOW POWERFUL SHE IS, HOLLYWOOD! Give her more roles like this! I missed seeing Keke Palmer in movies. She has been a damn phenomenon since she was a kid. Growing up and watching her achieve nothing but the best, as she should, is amazing.
Jessica Elbaum is a on a friggin’ roll with her brand, Gloria Sanchez. Even though it was founded a few years ago, it feels like Elbaum bursted through the gate this year to kick nothing but ass and take absolutely no prisoners. With Booksmart and Hustlers being so unexpectedly phenomenal, I wish nothing but the absolute best for her label. I’m just eager to see what she has up her sleeve next because I’m in awe of her power right now.
Hustlers is a damn masterpiece. It’s one of my top 10 favorites this year. It’s a fresh take on the crime story that’s set through the perspective of relative fleshed-out people. You’ve got a fantastic script which is a stylish, fun, well-paced roller coaster with exceptional performances by its ensemble, specifically, Lopez and Wu. Just like the other Gloria Sanchez production this year, Booksmart, it’s fueled by the sisterhood between the leads that you become invested in, told in a poignant and energetic story with detailed precision and execution by writer/director Lorene Scafaria.
Now, somebody get me a fur coat like J. Lo.
