• The film feels like a revenge story missing the part on how the women were wronged.
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Alex Sharp, Dean Norris
Release date: May 10
Penny is a small-time con artist. She sets up a fake account on a dating website, featuring a hot blonde bombshell. On the day of the date with the match from the site, Penny shows up and tells the guy the hot girl is her sister, who desperately needs surgery.
The men become sympathetic to the ‘hot girl cause’ and Penny swindles them out of their money. When Penny is almost caught by the police, she decides to skip town. She heads down to the French Riviera, where her conning ways grab the attention of Josephine Chesterfield.
Josephine is a sophisticated con artist, who deals with swindling rich men out of expensive jewellery or big money. Josephine knows that if Penny stays in town, she would cause a disruption in her business. She devises a way of tricking Penny into leaving town.
However, Penny discovers what Josephine is and realises she’s been a small-time con artist all along. She wants to learn how to con men in a big way, like Josephine. She manages to convince Josephine that if the two of them work together, they would make more money.
The two are forced to become allies but their partnership doesn’t last long. When they fight over who is the better con, they come up with a competition to determine just that. But this competition might just result in two losers.
The film is an all-female-lead remake of the 1988 film, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. With a tag line like “They are giving dirty rotten men a run for their money,” the film feels like a revenge story which jumped the prequel on how the two were wronged by men in their earlier lives.
The plot’s shallowness is saved by the fast-paced dialogue and action sequences. Hathaway’s English drawl is catastrophic! While Wilson’s over-the-top performances resemble every other character she’s ever played.
Other than the garbage-bags-look-a-like dresses, no other joke is new in the film. ‘The Hustle’ sells a big game but doesn’t deliver, just like the title suggests.
Star rating: 2 stars