Here’s the thing about Lorene Scafaria’s “Hustlers.” If you’ve watched a trailer or TV spot, everything you’ve seen so far is what is known as a “cheat” in the marketing business. Every piece of advertising has emphasized the sexy, over-the-top world of strip clubs, Jennifer Lopez’s enduring star power (and dancing ability) and the big screen debuts of hip-hop superstar Cardi B and upcoming Grammy legend Lizzo. If that has you hooked, don’t despair. It’s all in the movie, but you’ll soon discover the STX Entertainment release, which debuted at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday night, is much deeper than all that glitters on the surface.
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“Hustlers” is inspired by a New York Magazine article, “The Hustlers at Scores,” by Jessica Pressler. Names and locations have been changed in Scafaria’s adaptation (the name of the infamous gentleman’s club is now Moves for what we’ll assume are legal reasons), but the gist of the story is the same. After the crash of the stock market in 2008, the Wall Street money bags who had showered adult entertainers in New York for most of the decade dwindled to only a chosen few. This put many people who counted on their extravagant ways out of work. A few women came up with a scam that solved that problem but, as history tells us, going into business with your friends isn’t always easy.
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The film begins with the apply named Destiny (Constance Wu, very good), a middle of the road stripper who has finally landed a shot a the big time with a gig at the high-end Scores. Her first few nights are rough, however, until she meets Ramona (Lopez), a veteran dancer who works the stage and the pole like no one she’s ever seen before. Ramona befriends Destiny, after realizing a girl with her looks, talent, and ethnicity (she’s the only Asian girl at the joint) should be killing it and somehow isn’t. She gives her a master class in hustling, providing her with the tricks to get a client to spend more than they planned on without having to cross the line into, well, sex work. The two women become close friends, and as Destiny’s income rises, she is finally able to help her struggling grandmother pay her bills. At the same time, she’s also fallen for the douchebag Johnny (Gerald Earl Gillum) and becomes unexpectedly pregnant. That life change finds her leaving the business just as the economy goes into a tailspin.
After a few years her relationship with Johnny goes sour (unfortunately relegated to a montage) and Destiny returns to Moves hoping to get back in the game. She discovers the club is almost deserted, except for her old friend, who is barely scraping by. Ramona has graduated from simply dancing to running a scam where she and a few other women find a rare high roller at another establishment and get a kickback for bringing him to Moves. When the two women come up with a potentially more lucrative scheme that allows them to max out the credit cards of their victims, they realize they can quickly return to the high life they enjoyed years before. And after recruiting more women such as Annabelle (Lili Reinhart, memorable) and Mercedes (Keke Palmer, scene-stealing), to participate in the endeavor, they are soon running a full-fledged criminal enterprise.
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What elevates “Hustlers” from an entertaining con job flick to something noteworthy is that the racket isn’t inherent to the story Scafaria wants to tell. Many filmmakers will say their film tackles female empowerment, but few do the legwork to make an integral and authentic part of the story. Scafaria accomplishes that while making the friendship between Destiny and Romana the centerpiece of the film. The dance moves, the stripping, the fancy clothes, the extravagant lifestyle are all basically a window dressing. The film is genuinely about two women who bonded over the opportunity to take control of their lives and provide for their families. And when it all inevitably falls apart, there are emotional consequences all around.
“Hustlers” also transcends the genre because of a plethora of vibrant performances from a large ensemble cast that includes Mercedes Ruehl, Frank Whaley, Julia Stiles, Steven Boyer, Jon Glaser, and Trace Lysette. But, no disrespect to Wu, who is very, very good, the film soars whenever Lopez, is on screen. Yes, you’re skeptical. We assumed you would be.
Listen, it’s easy to dismiss Lopez’s movie career as two decades of mediocre rom coms and over-the-top thrillers. A closer retrospection will reveal that she’s consistently peppered serious work where she could find it (or fit it in). Maybe the right opportunities weren’t always there. Perhaps the end result wasn’t what everyone intended, and maybe a music career made it a secondary passion, but “Hustlers” proves that the game-changing talent that truly popped in Steven Soderbergh’s “Out of Sight” is alive and kicking. Lopez slowly reveals that Ramona is a woman that’s been through hell and back and back again and has the scars to prove it. Scafaria assists by coaxing a performance out of Lopez that is so unexpectedly grounded and moving you’ll be walking out of the theater praying she doesn’t have to wait another 22 years to showcase her rich, dramatic talents again.
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Despite the overall stellar collaboration between Scafaria, Lopez, and Wu, “Hustlers” does have some head-scratching issues. A number of the narrative transitions are wonky, some characters feel a bit too disposable, there is one particular reshoot that is glaringly noticeable and, despite Lopez’s incredible work, we learn shockingly little about how Ramona landed on her life path in the first place. But in the end, Scafaria pulls it together, and most of those concerns, are thrown to the wayside. And maybe the fact you’ll wonder what a Destiny and Ramona are up to today is all that really matters anyway. [B+]
Click here for our complete coverage from this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
