Review: The Hustle

Posted on 16 May, 2019

A well established, refined con artist finds her turf invaded by a crass Australian who might just be as good as her, or better.

This film was made in 1964 as Bedtime Story with Marlon Brando and David Niven. It was made again in 1988 with Steve Martin and Michael Caine as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. One more remake and it would be the A Star is Born of caper movies.

So let’s not call this a remake, let’s call it a ‘do-over’. With women – funny, funny women. Smart women who never take themselves seriously but deliver polished, professional performances in a well-made, enjoyable film.

We all know Rebel Wilson is a hoot and the queen of the ad-libbed line so I was watching the screen like a hawk for the moment when Anne Hathaway would break character. She never did – she must have the core strength of an athlete not to let a peep of a giggle out in some of there scenes. And it turns out one of the best ad-libbed lines is Anne’s. It is in a ‘pigeon’ shooting scene and it delivered deadpan. My husband had to ‘shush’ my hoots of laughter.

I really have no idea why this film has not received better reviews – but then I absolutely loved the all-girl Ghostbusters so what do I know?

Rebel’s mum must love it too – not just because she is a proud mum – but because Rebel exercised her Law graduate muscles as producer to get a PG 13 rating despite the presence of one F-bomb. Apparently, she cited plenty of male-produced film with the desired rating that included the same swearword. You go girl.

In case you have not seen either of the previous versions, the two con-women finally decide to compete for the fictional town of Beaumont-sur-Mer to be their exclusive um, workplace(?). They pick a mark and decide that the first to con him out of $500,000 gets the town. Ok, it isn’t rocket science and breaks no new barriers but it wins at the Bechdel Test and is really enjoyable.

Some great support casting too (if you are a nerd). Doctor Who’s Osgood stars as a French police detective and the ‘Shame’ nun from GOT scrubs up really, really well in a skin-tight cocktail number and a Chav accent. As usual, the French Riviera looks like I want to live there. There are hot gents, hot cars and fabulous fashion (again, something the lead actors have a lot of fun with).

There are also pratfalls, sight gags and a delicious Easter egg or two – check out the name of Thomas’ suite. More stylish than 1988. Far cleverer than 1964. Rebel and Anne for the win!

Roslyn saw this film as a guest of Limelight Cinemas Tuggeranong.

Feature image: Facebook