The Hustle
Even with an enjoyably cheeky performance by Anne Hathaway at its disposal, The Hustle makes for a tedious repackaging of a fun comedic premise.
At a time when reboots are more popular than ever in Hollywood , it ’s little curiosity studio have started using gender - swapping as a mode of dusting off honest-to-goodness properties and make them feel relevant again . However , whereas recent films likeGhostbustersandOcean ’s Eightattempted to put new spin on popular information processing by introducing new track that happen to all be women , The Hustleis a gender - swap remaking in a far more actual sense . A re - imagining of Frank Oz ’s 1988 comedyDirty Rotten Scoundrels(itself , a remake of Ralph Levy ’s 1964 drollery , Bedtime Story),The Hustlestruggles to excavate new sprightliness in its all too conversant tale of vie convict artists . Even with an pleasantly nervy performance by Anne Hathaway at its disposal , The Hustlemakes for a tedious repackaging of a fun comedic assumption .
Hathaway asterisk inThe Hustleas Josephine Chesterfield , a advanced tricker who ’s swindled her style into a luxurious dwelling and life in the French seaside village of Beaumont - sur - Mer . And much like Steve Martin played an crude American hustler to Michael Caine ’s classy British conman in Oz ’s film , Rebel Wilson costars here as Penny Rust , an Australian chiseler who lacks Josephine ’s careful and ingenious approach to her craft . The plot unfolds the same asDirty Rotten Scoundrels ' from there , with the gimmick being the two con artist frenemies are womanhood who eventually find themselves trying to root for a fast one over on an unsuspicious military personnel . In this case , the target is one Thomas Westerburg ( Alex Sharp ) , the vernal discoverer of a moneymaking fresh app .
WhileThe Hustlewas written by Jac Schaeffer ( Olaf ’s Frozen Adventure ) , she shares credit with the writers ofDirty Rotten Scoundrels , and for valid reason . As mentioned , the film is basically a rehash of its predecessor that aspires to be more feminist by making the leads womanhood who ’re able to con flush men by appealing to their egos , arrogance , and sense of entitlement . It ’s a sound approach on newspaper publisher , but does n’t really work in motion . For appetizer , Josephine and Penny ’s targets are comically fleeceable to the degree where it ’s not exactly comforting to watch them get play tricks and serve their just desserts . As a result , there ’s nothing specially challenging or insightful about the way the film treat sexism in the modern world , either . And without thwart anything for those unfamiliar with the story here , The Hustle ’s various pull and turns only oddment up muddling the moving picture ’s themes about sexuality ( despite its attempt to avoid sending an unintended " Not all men " message along the style ) .
That would n’t necessarily be a deal - breaker ifThe Hustle ’s lineament were engage enough to carry the story past its flaws , but the film ’s a mixed cup of tea in that respect . Hathaway , thankfully , seems to be having a good prison term ham it up it up , in the process drive home a parody portrayal of a glamorous crook that , at times , matches her scene - steal turn inOcean ’s Eightfor self - awareness . Wilson , on the other hand , employs her typical comedic schtick to diminished returns , complete with hit - or - miss slapstick witticism and an ineffective attempt to fetch some heart to her otherwise loosely irreverent carrying into action . Of the pair , Hathaway seems more in tune with the goose , yet witty , flavor the flick is going for , whereas Wilson ’s shenanigans keep pushing its scenes over the top . As for Sharp : his Mark Zuckerberg - inspired caricature is there for Hathaway and Wilson to take a hop jokes off for most of the moving picture ’s runtime , nothing more or less .
Unfortunately , on the opposite side of the television camera , The Hustlehelmsman Chris Addison ’s oeuvre is equally patched . The actor - manager is far from a alien to exaggerated comedies like this ( having appear in and directed the political television receiver satiresThe Thick of ItandVeep , severally ) , but his lack of experience as a movie helmer evince here , sadly . As a whole , The Hustlehas something of a TV film look to it ( in a bad way , that is ) , complete with clunky green screen background and overall flat visuals . And relieve for a montage where Josephine educate cent in the artistry of being a master con creative person , the film does n’t have much success when it come to find inventive ways of betray its comedy - driven bent firearm and sequences , either . It ’s too bad ; Emma Fryer ’s costume designs and Sophie Phillips ' set decoration are oftentimes as slick and suave as that of anOcean’smovie , but do n’t really fend out due to the mode they ’re fritter away .
All in all , The Hustleisn’t painfully unfit so much as it never really springs to life . There ’s certainly potential for something entertaining here , but the film shows gender - swapping on a superficial level is n’t enough to provide a decades - sometime frame-up with a new lease on living , or make it finger any less outdated than it already is . This also explain why MGM kept mess withThe Hustle ’s dismissal day of the month and ultimately moved it back eleven months from its original June 2018 launch prison term , in favor of a less competitive weekend early this May . Still , Hathaway ’s gleefully silly execution alone ( arrant with her amusingly unlikely British idiom ) is grounds enough to warrant checking this one out at home in the future .
TRAILER
The Hustleis now playing in U.S. theaters nationally . It is 93 moment long and is rated PG-13 on appeal for primitive intimate mental object and language .
A remake of the 1988 comedy , Dirty Rotten Scoundrels , in which two down - and - out sting artist affiance in a " also-ran go away townspeople " contest . The cinema was officially announce in 2016 and it started to make headway in 2017 , when it went by the titleNasty Women . Anne Hathaway signed on that year , conjoin Rebel Wilson as the principal . Filming set out in September 2017 .
A remake of the 1988 comedy,Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which two down-and-out con artists engage in a “loser leaves town” contest. The film was officially announced in 2016 and it started to make headway in 2017, when it went by the titleNasty Women. Anne Hathaway signed on that year, joining Rebel Wilson as the leads. Filming started in September 2017.
