Rico's Thoughts - The Hustle
"Release the peasants!...."
There has been a string of movies starring lead actresses that have had its fair share of highs and lows recently. A couple of years ago, we had the movie Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, that was a surprise hit. Another positive example is the movie The Heat, also starring McCarthy alongside Sandra Bullock, that was another surprise hit for the summer.
On the other side of the spectrum was last year’s Ocean’s 8, a movie that disappointed, even though it sported a talented cast, including Anne Hathaway. What these movies have in common is allowing for the main female leads to have fun in the roles that they’re playing. Although it’s not perfect, The Hustle allows Hathaway and Rebel Wilson to do just that.
Hathaway and Wilson are female scam artists Josephine and Penny, respectively. One is a high-class thief, who tricks wealthy men with her ability to act as a damsel in distress. The other is a low-life criminal, who only has one go to trick in her scams. The two team up to take down the dirty, rotten men who have wronged them.
Hathaway seems as though she has not given up on the Ocean’s 8 role and continues that persona in this movie. That’s not a bad thing because she is a delight. The way she is able to just jump between different accents, or turn into a naive girl who knows how to flirt, she is able to cash in on many situations, until Penny (Wilson) comes along and now has to compete with someone who she deems to be less than her.
Rebel Wilson brings in the physical comedy, that she has been known for in the majority of her roles. She’s not breaking the wheel. That’s what a movie like this needs. The slapstick humor that is not seen too often in comedies anymore. Sometimes we’ll see slapstick humor for a moment in most comedies, but Wilson has really turned it into an art form for herself.
The portrayals of the two leads should not work, because it almost feels like the two of them are in completely different movies. But, with that said, it creates a dynamic that allows for the two actresses to turn the volume on their characters up to 11. If neither one of them is dialed up that high, then this comedy would be a failure. It’s a good thing that both actresses, Hathaway and Wilson, know what kind of movie they’re in, both hamming it up along the way.
The hamming up of their characters throughout the movie sometimes reaches the point of saying to yourself, “okay, we get the schtick, can we try something different.” The movie does have moments where the comedy falls flat.
There are worse movies for Hathaway and Wilson to be in. At least this movie allows them to have fun. The way the movie goes, you are expecting one thing but you get another. I guess that’s the point of the hustle. You never know what’s really in front of you.
2.5/5 Stars