Listen Here
By: Dylan Frazier
Email: frazierd@findlay.edu
Twitter: @dylanfrazier44
Based on a true story, Hustlers is another great example that Hollywood can do movies that aren’t reboots or about superheroes. Hustlers, starring Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez, is great story with a great cast that helps propel the movie to another level.
Hustlers follows the lives of 2 strippers, Dorothy (Constance Wu) and Ramona (Jennifer Lopez), and how they made a living in that industry. Dorothy is a shy, timid girl who just wants to help her Grandma and Ramona is the leader of the group who is willing to make a quick buck anyway she can. Eventually, Ramona pushes her limits with Dorothy and starts to do things that are too far. Without giving much more away, I was honestly shocked how manipulative Ramona was in the movie, all for money, or so we think…
For me, it starts with Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu, they were great, Lopez especially. They were a great duo together and their interactions were terrific on-screen.
Wu was very believable as Dorothy and she was easy to root for. You could feel the guilt she had for all the things her character did in the movie. She thought what she was doing was the best for her at first, but slowly realized this was the wrong path. I really liked Wu’s work in Crazy Rich Asians and now with Hustlers, she has shown that she has range to play many different roles.
As for Lopez, I can’t say enough good things about her performance in this movie. Ramona was selfish, manipulative, and vile but Lopez made her a likeable character. The character of Ramona was very cutthroat and always had her best interests in mind, she easily was the worst person in the movie as far as morals go but Lopez did such a good job of making Ramona someone to root for. It showed that Lopez, if given the right role, can act with the best of them.
One issue I did find with the movie was the way it was told but it wasn’t that major of an issue. They used a timeline format and there was a lot of jumping around, which if you weren’t paying attention for even 30 seconds, you could be lost. It kind of made the movie drag at parts but not enough to ruin the movie. It still was a great story, but if it would have been about 10 minutes shorter, it could have been really good.
With not many great movies out in theaters right now, Hustlers is a great 2 hours spent at the theater. With a mostly great story and a great cast, Hustlers is well worth the price of admission.
