Hustlers

I don't understand the reviews on this site. This movie is definitely not a 1. I came out of the cinema loving it.

At no point during did I feel like the main players were hero's, but neither were they villains. And I feel like that was the point. You were meant to feel uncomfortable with the decisions they made. It's not a movie about girl power. It's about these women reacting to the circumstances they were put in.

The great thing about it is that it is solely focused on the women and their stories. All the men in the movie are background pieces. They are there to play a specific role but that's all, they don't particularly matter except for what they add to the women. For me, that is what is "girl power".

After seeing some of the big praise the film has had including talks of Oscar nominations for Lopez I expected a lot lot more from the film. It was still ok but reasonably good rather than anything exceptional with multiple flaws.

Lorene Scafaria absolutely kills it. Hustlers is a well written, tremendously directed film. The co-leads in Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians) and Jennifer Lopez (Jenny from the block...) act their asses off. For a $20 million production this film looks huge and glossy. It's everything you want your trip to the movies to be. Worth the price of admission and engaging enough to justify the large coke and popcorn.

I felt like for a portion of the film that some characters were forgotten about. They felt key to the character's motivations but went missing. These threads were picked up again however and it resolved my biggest gripe. The cast is quite large especially during the films first act. More and more cast members are added as the film progresses and the initial ensemble is made redundant by the plot. The girls were so charming at the start that I wish they'd found their way back into the story. This isn't a criticism so much as a wish for more of a good thing.

My experience seeing this movie was my main takeaway. I'm a self-professed film geek. Often when I head to the pictures I'm flying solo because my One Sixty cohort Shane is busy or finding like minded film fans is hard to come by where live. It's not uncommon to see a few other guys watching the film by themselves as well. What I saw during Hustlers was sort of unprecedented out in the 'burbs where I live (at least in my experience). I saw many women, by themselves, in the cinema seeking this film. Young and old alike.

It's no great mystery that movies are made, at least marketed, with men/boys in mind. Great inroads have been made in changing the opinion that they are solely for men and Hustlers seems like a huge leap forward in defeating this stigma. Whilst I was watching the movie the sense that this movie wasn't trying to appeal to my more basic man-brain became increasingly apparent. The movie wasn't exploitive of its female cast. It told the story as it was, it didn't fantasise.

I felt refreshed seeing a movie that I wasn't the target audience for. Seeing a movie that could easily have fallen into the trappings of becoming a male fantasy movie. Instead it was a female story. Told as it was. I am absolutely here for more mature movies that aren't just about the white male experience. As his history shows in order for anything to survive becoming stagnated it need diversity. We need more stories from more people. We need more stories from Lorene Scafaria.

A film about greed, told with grace:

4/5 Stars

After I have watched the movie without watching trailer , which means i have no expectation of this movie. Although the story might be too weak , the actress have did quite well. I would give it 8 out of ten if they made the story more decent. The story also present the life of prostitutes like how they start the work and why they come back to this kind of work even they have got a lot of money. Plus, also the repercussion of doing something illegally.

Ps. Trust me this movie was not bad at all.

It really feels like many of the negative reviews expected a female version of Magic Mike or something like that. I feel like many of them missed the point.

This is a story about a crime ring formed by strippers who have had it with the Wall Street bros who come in and take advantage of them. It's about how for many women, stripping is a form power they can hold over the men who have controlled many aspects of their lives. It's also about taking desperate measures when there are no better alternatives.

I enjoyed this movie, and thought the cast did a great job.