Review: Hustlers

Image courtesy of STX Entertainment.

Destiny (Constance Wu), a stripper struggling to survive in Queens with her grandmother, watches during one moment in Lorene Scafaria's crime drama "Hustlers" as Ramona (Jennifer Lopez), the top draw to the strip club where they both work, struts and puts on a show for the clientele to the tune of Fiona Apple's "Criminal." Ramona knows how to work the crowd, thereby explaining why money rains down on her during her act.

Yes, the scene is meant to establish that Ramona is the top dog among strippers, but it also exists to remind everyone that Lopez, who gives her strongest performance here since "Out of Sight," can be a captivating presence when given the right material. As Ramona, she's the cocksure leader of a band of exotic dancers who come up with a scheme - apparently based on a true story - to bilk greedy Wall Street types out of their money by drugging them and running up charges on their credit cards.

Destiny is the willing protege, and the group is rounded out by Keke Palmer's Mercedes and Lili Reinhart's Annabelle. The four women meet when Destiny is the new kid on the block at a high-end strip club circa 2007 that draws a number of Wall Street's big money men. Early scenes in the picture also feature rappers Cardi B and Lizzo in small roles.

But when the 2008 financial crisis hits, the Wall Streeters are suddenly no longer interested in blowing hundreds of dollars per night at strip clubs. Ramona ends up working retail, while Destiny takes a few years off after giving birth to a little girl and being disgusted to learn that her former place of work now offers more than just lap dances.

It's at this point that Ramona comes up with her scheme to drug and steal money from Wall Street types, whom she points out stole from others leading up to the 2008 crisis and didn't face any jail time. Although one of the women's victims is sympathetic, it's true that most of the sleazy men they bilk are not. The picture's framing device is an interview between Destiny and a reporter played by Julia Stiles, during which the at-this-point former stripper appears to be feeling Stiles's character out to determine if she's spoken to Ramona, from whom Destiny has become estranged.

Although "Hustlers" leans a little too heavily into the concept that the strippers are a family - a trait that became tiresome in previous movies about ragtag groups, such as the "Fast and the Furious" movies - and liberally borrows stylistically from the Martin Scorsese handbook, Scafaria's picture is well worth seeing for the performances - Lopez and Wu especially - and the camaraderie between the diverse group of women who look out for one another.

Also, it's a fun movie. There are, perhaps, a few too many scenes of the women enjoying their ill gotten gains - after all, the movie takes aim at how rich men can get away with anything because of their wealth, so celebrating the accumulation of fancy objects maybe rings a little hollow in hindsight - but I was also invested enough in Ramona, Destiny and the other characters to not want them to get caught.

"Hustlers" came as somewhat of a surprise. Its trailer didn't do it justice, so it was considered a sleeper when it debuted on the festival circuit in recent weeks. Although I wouldn't say it's as award-worthy as some others have found it, the picture is a well acted, stylish and funny crime drama that gives J-Lo her best role in ages and provides for an overall good time.