Sex Sells and Traps: "Hustlers" vibrates with verve, empathy, and magnetic performances

Hustlers (2019)

107 min.

Release Date: September 13, 2019 (Wide)

Inspired by Jessica Pressler’s New York magazine article “The Hustlers at Scores,” “Hustlers” isn't as simplistic as strippers behaving badly and feeling empowered. Writer-director Lorene Scafaria (2016's "The Meddler") brings a crackling and vibrant pace, empathy, and plenty of verve to this highly entertaining, Scorsese-style crime drama in which strippers trap, drug, and max out the credit cards of their womanizing Wall Streep clientele after the 2008 stock market crash. "Hustlers" tells a compelling story that gets to have its thong and wear it too; while delivering on the eye-candy, it has a brain and a heart. 

A terrific Constance Wu (2018’s “Crazy Rich Asians”) is the viewer’s relatable conduit as innocent “new girl” Dorothy, who goes by stage name “Destiny” and strips to survive and support her grandmother who raised her. Jennifer Lopez is commanding in one of her most dynamic performances in years as veteran pole dancer Ramona, who takes Dorothy under her wing (and literally welcomes her into her comfy-looking fur coat when they first meet) and leads the operation to seduce and scam their slimy male clients. With a fully realized role like Ramona, Lopez proves that she is not only a dynamite superstar but a veritable actress with charisma to burn, emotional depth, and magnetic ability to work an audience. Even with her electrifying entrance on the pole, cued to Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” one eventually forgets he or she is watching Jennifer Lopez. Wu and Lopez share an effortless chemistry that exhibits a strong bond of sisterhood, and their dynamic with Keke Palmer’s Mercedes and Lili Reinhart’s Annabelle is irresistible. While musical artists Cardi B and Lizzo get a little lost after the early sections of the film, they still make the most of their fun and flashy, albeit fleeting, appearances. 

Told through a framing device that has Dorothy telling her story to a reporter (Julia Stiles) in 2014, Lorene Scafari’s script humanizes these women a great deal and makes you hope they succeed. The director never ogles them with her camera, even when the characters are working a stage, using their sexiness as power. The film also has a sharp sense of humor, not only through acerbic interplay but in a hilarious sequence where Dorothy and Ramona cook up and test their ketamine-MDMA cocktail later used to drug the men's drinks in the champagne room. The soundtrack, including the likes of Britney Spears, Janet Jackson and Usher (who also gives a great cameo), is spot-on, too. “Hustlers” is a blast to watch on the glittery surface, but this is also a punchy indictment of capitalism. Like Ramona says at the end, “this city, this whole country, is a strip club. You’ve got people tossing the money, and people doing the dance.” 

Grade: B +