My Thoughts on Husters

Every so often you get something wrong. When the trailer for Hustlers came out in the Summer, I scoffed. A J-Lo led film about thieving strippers with supporting performances from Cardi B and Betty from Riverdale? Sounds pretty naff. Turns out, I was very, very wrong. Hustlers is many things, but naff certainly isn't one of them, and the fact that it's so good is a fairly effective reminder not to judge things too quickly. So yeah, this is a good movie, based on an article about a group of strippers that, following the financial crash of 2008, took to scamming their wealthy clientele. I wasn't familiar with this story before I saw this film, so going into it, I didn't really know what to expect. Combine that with my lack of enthusiasm, and you've got a reminder that I am a very silly goose. Scoundrel of the Screen? More like Silly Person of.... of the Sc-screen *coughs*. It's clear that we're in good hands from the start, when the film opens with this incredible long shot that goes right through the club, introducing us to Constance Wu's Destiny. I never really got the chance to say it when it came out, but I absolutely loved Crazy Rich Asians, and I'm so happy to see Wu doing so well, because she's a really special screen presence, and this movie really gives her the chance to wow. A movie like this kind of lives and dies with its lead, and there's something about Destiny that makes you want to follow this absolutely bonkers-but-true story. She gives it this weight and humanity that transforms what could have been superficial and shallow into something so incredibly good

It's not just Constance Wu who's awesome here, though. I mean sure, Destiny is undeniably the lead character, and she gives a performance that's absolutely brimming with heart and humour, but there's another performance in this movie that just makes it special. Take a bow, Jennifer Lopez. I mean look, it's not that J-Lo is bad or anything, far from it, but I don't think it's unfair to say that her track record has been.... pretty spotty. But it's clear from the second she enters the frame that she owns Hustlers. Destiny's the lead, but Ramona's the focus, a character who, even when she isn't onscreen, is at the centre of everything that's happening. This is the best I think I've ever seen J-Lo. She's such a commanding presence, so full of love and compassion while also being cunning, tough, and when she has to be, absolutely ruthless. You believe that she's at the centre of this unlikely criminal empire, and the fact that she takes this character who could have been one-dimensional and kind of boring and turns her into a real-feeling, occasionally unlikeable, yet utterly compelling kingpin (queenpin?) who just absolutely dominates the whole film. Get this woman an Oscar!

The rest of the cast are fine? They're not bad or anything, but they're also not the focus, so it kind of doesn't matter. They work well enough, but the film really does revolve around Constance Wu and J-Lo. Everyone else is just kind of there, good enough to keep everything running smoothly, and never bad enough to be especially noticeable, with one distinct exception. Cardi B is absolutely awful in this. I don't listen to her music, but at least I kind of get the appeal. But she cannot act. At. All. Oh my god she's atrocious. Look, it's a minor issue, because her total screentime is probably less than 5 minutes, but any time she is on screen, she's just so annoying, and yeah, kind of distracting. Again, in the grand scheme of things, this doesn't really matter, because she's a peripheral character, and she kind of stops being in it around the 30 minute mark, but can we agree that casting someone who really, really can't act just wasn't a good idea?

Back to the good stuff, though, this film is so good at balancing a fun, snappy narrative with some weighty social commentary that feels so relevant to the times we're living in (I guess it was only 6 years ago). We'll start with the fun stuff, and by god is this movie a good time. When it gets going, it's gleefully sharp. It reminds me of something like Boogie Nights in the way that it feels like a rollercoaster ride, full of twists and turns, tonal shifts and narrative bends that are just so much fun. The movie balances it's tense thrills with giddy, sharply scripted laughs, and the result is a seriously good time. It has this knack of going from being surprisingly suspenseful to absolutely hilarious, while all the while being an absolute celebration of stealing from the people who deserve to be stolen from. It pulls no punches in its thrills or in its laughs, and this approach is definitely a smart one, giving Hustlers an unmistakable panache. This is a really stylish movie, and that can be seen in the soundtrack. The music would probably play in a strip club. The use of Lorde's Royals to score an "Everything's Going To Shit ™" montage is a particularly good move, and Hustlers is full of these kinds of flourishes

The sheer fun in this movie also enhances the surprisingly solid commentary that it delivers in its home stretch. The idea that "the world is a strip club" is one that's at the heart of Hustlers. In this movie, everyone is taking something from someone else, and that survival driven narrative gives this film a serious edge. True, they're drugging people and robbing them blind, but only because they need the money. The film never asks us to root for these women, but it does make sure that we understand why they're doing this. They're just people trying to get by, trying to stay afloat and make sure that their families are being looked after. That doesn't justify what they do, but that very blunt approach to a very blunt idea gives this commentary so much more power. Yeah, the movie is a lot of fun, but it's not afraid to sting when it needs to, because there's so much pain at the heart of this story. This is a film where people hurt the people who hurt them, and the cycle of pain is what makes Hustlers work as well as it does. The marriage of stylish fun and visceral ideas could have been disastrous, but thankfully, one never distracts from the other, and that fusion is definitely one of Hustlers' greatest strengths.

Really quick, ultra-specific anecdote though. When J-Lo talks about "hurt people hurting hurt people", all I could think of was Dave McSavage's impression of Joe Duffy, something that probably makes zero sense outside of Ireland. Basically, it's a pisstake of a real-life radio host who urges people to come onto his show and complain, and was done on a sketch show called The Savage Eye, one of the best pieces of satire about Irish life ever written. Needless to say, any chance I had of taking that line seriously was kind of demolished by that, because all I could think is how "the hurt do be hurting the hurted". Do check out The Savage Eye though, because it's kind of genius

Back to Hustlers though, because this film is an unexpected delight. True, not all of it works (the ending is too neat, and that Usher scene was.... a choice), but it could hardly be accused of playing it safe. This is fierce, ballsy cinema, quick enough and vicious enough to overcome any stumbles. So yeah, I was kind of an idiot for judging it before I saw it, because damn does it deliver. Hustlers is awesome, plain and simple.