“The Hustle” Movie Review

    Like most Tuesday nights, my girlfriend and I decided to see a movie and sort of clear our heads after a long work week.  The fact that tickets are cheaper and it’s free popcorn day certainly doesn’t hurt either.  Well, on this particular day we decided to see “The Hustle” because Rebel Wilson is usually fairly funny.

    The film focuses on two very different con women with two very different approaches to their craft.  Josephine Chesterfield is a classy and refined con artist who goes after men with deep pockets.  Penny Rust, on the other hand, is crude and just looking for a quick buck.  After the two clash over territory and the best way to play a mark, the two decide the best way to settle their rivalry is making a bet over a man.  The two have to compete to see who can get five hundred thousand dollars from him.  Whoever loses the bet must leave and never come back.

    After the credits rolled, I remember commenting that the movie felt a little like “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” without realizing that it was, in fact, a remake of that film.  I have to admit, being such a movie buff, I felt a bit dumb not knowing that before hand.  The movie had a very 80s comedy feel to it but it didn’t exactly wow me.

   Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson play the two main characters.  The film unwisely focuses primarily on Anne Hathaway and I can’t help but feel an executive made that call because she is portrayed as sort of a vixen in the film which is an odd choice to me considering the goal in making this a female centered reboot is to get a female audience.  Rebel Wilson still does get plenty of screen time but a great deal of her funnier scenes were showcased in the film’s trailer..

    “The Hustle” has some funny moments and there were parts I laughed out loud, but there were also plenty of parts that went on way too long without a funny moment to be found.  For a movie that is a remake of a classic comedy and features a talented cast, I expected a bit more.  Ultimately, I didn’t hate the film but I was left feeling disappointed.

Grade: C-