The Hustle (2019)
- Corey Bulloch
- May 14, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2019
★★
Two female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, team up to take down the men who have wronged them.
Classification: 12A
Not clever and not interesting in any capacity, The Hustle fails its two leading ladies with a predictable story and only a handful of fun comedy moments. Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as the odd couple hustlers, with Wilson relying on her usual bag of tricks. Hathaway puts on a series of accents and appears to be having fun with the ridiculous capers that her character engages in but the film never has these performers attempt anything captivating.
For a film depicting a series of cons, The Hustle has very little tension, dramatic or comedic. Hathaway’s character is presented as the more intelligent and sophisticated of criminals and she uses that intellect to outsmart her marks. However all of these marks are presented as absolute morons, There appears to be no challenge for the characters when it comes to their skillsets instead the challenge comes from the characters dislike from one another. The Hustle just seems unsure of what type of story it wants to be, with the rivalry between Hathaway’s Josephine and Wilson’s Penny taking many different forms throughout the narrative.
This lack of narrative focus causes the pacing of the film to drag immensely. Add this to the absence of tension and The Hustle toils through its runtime with every new element it introduces dragging it down further. With its unsure nature of the script, it shouldn’t be surprising that the ending of this film is a disappointing failure. For the most part, The Hustle treads very familiar territory with predictable laughs and seemingly predictable conclusions however the ending betrays the setup and goes for a very unsatisfying and careless outcome that it makes the whole viewing experience all the more pointless.
Highlights are in the performances, while the script is generic and predictable, Hathaway and Wilson have a good rapport with each and bring their strengths to the table. Some of the comedic sequences do have amusing moments when the film focuses on the partnership between the two characters that's when The Hustle shines, even if its brief. Seeing Anne Hathaway embrace her comedic side is always a delight but there is very little development with her performance beyond fancy con artist.
Therein lies the fault with The Hustle, its all show and no substance even if what it has to show isn’t that impressive. With director Chris Addison’s comedic background, one would expect a more thoughtful and creative comedy however this will just fade into forgotten obscurity. With performances given no opportunity to develop and a script that disappoints at almost every turn, The Hustle will have you partially amused during your viewing but leaves a harsh aftertaste as you watch the credits roll.
Director: #ChrisAddison
Release Date: May 10th 2019.
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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