Hustler Movie Review
In Hustler J-Lo strips down for some cash and naughty fun.
Hustlers is thrilling drama written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the End the World). The film features a high profile cast including Constance Wu who plays Destiny the main character who makes a living from stripping to support herself and her ageing grandmother. She’s new and not the best but she admires and wants to be like the mesmerising Ramona (played by Jennifer Lopez) who is the most favoured stripper in the club.
Set during the year 2007 when America’s economy was thriving is when their paths meet. A wealthy and driven Ramona decides to teach an innocent and trusting Destiny her ways to help her get to the top. This then forms into a wonderful and strong friendship between the two. But just like a hill, what goes up must come down so when America’s economy crashes it heavily affects their livelihood. This means desperate times that are followed by desperate measures reinforced by Ramona and her growing obsession to keep up her lavish lifestyle. She gets Destiny and two of her close friends Mercedes (Keke Palmer) and Annabelle (Lili Reinhart) to come together, make a plan involving their Wall Street clients in order to get above surface during the economic flood. Ramona’s love for money drives her to become extreme, reckless with other people’s lives and frankly inhumane. Destiny’s life becomes a whirlwind of a rollercoaster because of Ramona’s actions and she can’t seem to find a way to get off and she feels obligated to stay because she sees her as family.
This film is an amalgamation of friendship, the people we choose as family when a real one is lacking, the reality of the oversexualized society we live in and a deep, eye-opening insight on how strippers lead their lives. If you’re looking for something light-hearted and funny to watch, you’re in the wrong direction although the performances are brilliantly played and the production of the film is very well-done the tone is quite dejected so I would recommend it if that’s your taste but if you’re not a fan of nudity in films and you’re underage I would stick to PG-13 films because this one is filled with explicit content, don’t say I didn’t warn you!
- Director: Lorene Scafaria
- Written by: Lorene Scafaria
- Starring: Stars: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles
- Rated: R
- Budget: 20,000.000 (est.)
- Running Time: 1 hours and 50 minutes
- Release Date: September 13, 019
Review by Ren Canga a Dublin based Cinematographer
