Written by contributor Tom Hitchen
Directed by Lorene Scafaria
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer
When Jennifer Lopez’s Ramona extends her arm, draping open an expensive coat against a backdrop of a light-speckled skyline and says “climb into this fur” between puffs on a cigarette, it is not easy to see where this film will take you. But, hand in hand with Constance Wu’s, Destiny and nestled beside Lopez, in a stunning, career best performance, Hustlers navigates you through an entertaining, thrilling tale of money, greed, power and family. And it’s one heck of a ride.
Inspired by Jessica Pressler’s New York magazine article, Hustlers follows amateur stripper Destiny as she struggles to earn money and ends up, quite literally, in the arms of star performer Ramona, who teaches her the tricks of the trade. When Wall Street crashes, the women go broke and the two conceive a notorious plan to drug its wealthiest and steal their money back.
The strongest part of the film comes from its all-star line-up. Alongside Wu and Lopez, are Riverdale alum, Lili Reinhart playing the gentle and coy Annabelle, and Scream Queens’ Keke Palmer who shines as feisty Mercedes. Singers Cardi B and Lizzo also star in iconic roles that just creep over the cameo line and give us some memorable, hilarious moments in a film absolutely drenched in standout one-liners and perfectly timed vomit scenes (yes, Lili Reinhart did that.)
Lopez gives everything she’s got in this defining role as Ramona. From an opening scene that will make your jaw drop, to softer, more nuanced interactions with her fellow cast, the seasoned actress shows the breadth of her acting prowess and delivers both humour and dramatics in equal measure. Wu is a knockout too. Having most recently starred in the blockbuster hit, Crazy Rich Asians, this is another standout performance for the actress. Naïve and cunning, Wu’s Destiny is a tour de force and pushes the film along with pace, letting the actress show us how Destiny has changed over the years, rather than telling us outright. It’s as intriguing as it is confident.
A note on the ensemble work needs to be mentioned, as well as the brilliant direction by Lorene Scafaria (writer of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist), where the cast seamlessly work into each other’s hands. No one seems out of place in this hectic, loud piece of cinema. A scene early on featuring a pair of new boobs, a homemade chocolate cake, and a vibrator, all packed into a tight dressing room, is perfectly fitted together and captures each vignette with careful precision, letting us know from the off that this film is in experienced, yet joyously unpredictable, hands.
The film does more than just showcase the women’s acting chops. It pulls back the velvet curtain into the often chaotic, and yet intimately delicate territory of sex work. The stripping, the dancing, and the bright lights, while adding a stunning visual element to the film, do not outshine the story of a young girl trying to make ends meet in the highly stigmatised world of stripping. Through the relationships between each of the women, their need to be “independent” and the role of motherhood, Hustlers combats stereotypes and offers a commentary on what it’s like on the frontline of such a polarising career.
While these women can all pull focus with their alluring magnetism, there is something to be said about the technical craft of the film. Todd Banhazl’s cinematography is an aesthetic wonderland: neon lights smudge across the screen in a way not dissimilar to that of a Blade Runner epic; crisp, close up shots frame the actors perfectly and then pull back out, slowing time down, and letting the women, particularly Lopez, do what they do best – command a screen. From this standpoint, the film is expertly crafted. The only time things feel jarred is when Hustlers switches between the present day and the past. Destiny’s interview with Julia Stiles’ journalist Elizabeth, while acted beautifully, is centred around the recording, and therefore narration, of Destiny’s illegal exploits. Stylistically, it doesn’t slot in quite right and the film struggles to balance both the heightened glitz of the strip club lifestyle and the almost clinical interaction between reporter and interviewee. It’s not enough to derail the film, however.
Scafaria has done a tremendous job, capturing at once the heart of these women as well as the thrilling tension needed to sit in the con movie genre. It’s powerful, evocative and gloriously modern, giving this all female cast room to really play. Through all the rights and wrongs these characters pull you through, it’s hard not to root for them throughout the whole thing. Hustlers is intoxicatingly mesmerising and celebrates womanhood in a way not usually seen on screen.
In a film that’s stuffed full of stunning acting talent, Scafaria has seized the con movie with both hands and given us a dramatic, hilarious tribute to female empowerment. Under the very capable wings of Lopez and Wu, Hustlers soars and lands with a platform-heeled thud as one of the best films of the year.
