Do the Hustle

Hustlers (2019) is Lorene Scafaria’s stripper crime movie. I went in expecting a caper film, like maybe Widows or Ocean’s 8. But it was more of a relationship movie, a found family film.

Constance Wu is a stripper, supporting her Chinese grandmother. She’s not very good at it - she’s kind of shy and clearly hates the job. One day she sees star stripper Jennifer Lopez, and like everyone else, she’s hooked. Lopez mentors her, and they make a lot of money. One night, Usher shows up, even.

Then, 2008. The money dries up. The finance boys are stingier and there aren’t as many of them. They need to up their game. So Lopez decides they should dope the marks drinks and max out their credit cards. The guys could be convinced that they just overdid it on booze, coke and pills, and besides, they would have to come clean about the strippers if they went to the authorities.

So they have a nice little crime family, with Lopez as the mommy. The gang includes Cardi B and Lizzo, for some extra fun. But Wu is never really comfortable with fleecing the marks. She wants to make sure they only hit assholes, but at least one guy got really hurt. Then there’s some jealousy over a new girl. When the police start nosing around, it gets ugly.

This hustle was not exactly an elaborate caper. So if you like clever plots, forget that. It’s about the Wu’s ambiguous relation with stripping (degrading, but well-paying) and her feelings for J-Lo. It’s well done, but not so much my thing.

J-Lo, by the way, is amazing, and seeing her workout on the pole is breathtaking. But that’s another thing that didn’t quite grab me about the movie - I love strippers and all, but in the world of this movie, it is like the only thing women can do. I guess I just don’t love them that much.