Review: The Hustle Cons The Viewers
Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson go head to head in their new comedy The Hustle. The Hustle is a female-centric remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. While films with two women in the lead is always a welcome sight, this remake would have been better off left unmade.
Anne Hathaway is Josephine, a highly sophisticated, wealthy con artist who loves to swindle immoral men out of their most prized possessions. Rebel Wilson plays Penny, the uncouth, often inappropriate drifter whose main goal is to catfish men out of their money. Josephine encounters Penny mid-scheme while en route to Beaumont-sur-Mer where Josephine has made her home. Josephine sees Penny as threat to her business, and from there, a wild ride ensues as Josephine does everything she can to rid her town of Penny. Penny doesn’t go down without a fight and the women agree to one final bet. They will both target the same mark and whoever is successful in scamming $500,000 off him wins and can stay in Beaumont-sur-Mer.
Even with the knowledge the film is a remake, it still felt stale and, frankly speaking, old. Aside from minor technological upgrades, the film lacked freshness and originality. What is most disappointing is the potential it could have had if done right. The film has two actors with excellent comedic timing. The possibilities to take these characters to new heights are endless.
Wilson is again the character she has played many times over. A brash, sexually confident woman whose only focus appears to be cracking jokes about her figure before someone else can. Seeing as she is a producer on this film it’s perplexing to continue to see her in these onenote roles, settling for the easy joke instead of using her strong comedic skills.
Hathaway, on the other hand, takes her character and runs with it. Each identity Hathaway’s character takes on is fun to watch. She’s tasked with several accents to work with and it’s clear from the start just how enjoyable she found this role. The best scenes are the ones where Hathaway and Wilson work together or competing against each other. It’s easy to see this was a set they looked forward to going to and their comfortability in working with the other jumps off the screen.
The Hustle had the promise of fun but with only sprinkles of comedy throughout, it ends up boring. Wilson and Hathaway look to be having the time of their lives, the ride is not so joyous for viewers.
Grade: C+