{"id":18287,"date":"2019-05-09T13:44:57","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=18287"},"modified":"2019-05-09T13:44:57","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:44:57","slug":"like-many-copies-the-hustle-isnt-as-sharp-as-its-predecessors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=18287","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;t as Sharp as its Predecessors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/24_0004_C-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9315\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comedy <em>The Hustle<\/em> may seem like a fresh new film, but alas, it&#8217;s actually a remake. Specifically, a take on the classic 1988 flick <em>Dirty Rotten Scoundrels<\/em> (which itself was a re-imagining of the 1964 feature, <em>Bedtime Story<\/em>). So I should be upfront in saying that the 80s version has always been a personal favorite, featuring Steve Martin and Michael Caine as con men teaming up and eventually doing battle on the French Riviera. The newest adaptation also features a pair of great leads and a couple of funny moments, but won&#8217;t make the same kind of lasting impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hustle-train-car-1024x516.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18289\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lonnie (Rebel Wilson) is a small-time hustler tricking men in\nbars out of their money by saying she&#8217;s raising cash for a breast enhancement\nfor her sister. When she suddenly finds her way to France,\nshe encounters Josephine (Anne Hathaway) an urbane and confident con woman\nskilled in lifting hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy marks. Josephine\nimmediately thinks Lonnie&#8217;s arrival is bad for business, but is eventually\nblackmailed into training her. As their rivalry grows, the two eventually\nsettle on a specific score to determine who is the best among them. Their\ntarget&#8230; the shy creative mind (Alex Sharpe) behind a successful app. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hustle-cane-disguises-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18290\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As mentioned, when one is so enamored with the previous\nversion of the story, it really is difficult to judge without making\ncomparisons. Wilson does manage to\nearn some laughs from Lonnie&#8217;s offhanded comments and a couple of the more\nabsurd caricatures she&#8217;s forced into playing by Josephine (including a demented\nsibling). And when the big score on the tech genius comes into play, she also\nmakes the most out of essaying the role of a woman suffering from\n&#8220;hysterical blindness&#8221;. Hathaway also ekes out a laugh or two,\nalthough her role veers overly into camp and exaggeration, rarely showing any\nreal qualities beneath the facade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hustle-table-1024x618.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18291\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But beyond a few little moments here and there, this all feels\nlike an abridged and dulled version of the 1988 film. Many of the very same\njokes are played out, yet they don&#8217;t have the same impact. Perhaps it is due to\nthis reviewer&#8217;s familiarity with the source material, but it may have more to\ndo with how the gags are presented. Certain scenes in the original film developed\nas more information was slowly revealed as to what was going on, the con men&#8217;s\nroles in the endeavor and additional complications were introduced. In this\nversion, but most of the punchlines and twists are revealed immediately, and\nthe cast members are forced into extending the bluntly delivered joke for as\nlong as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hustle-dress-store-1024x613.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18292\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The original also included gorgeous cinematography of the French Riviera, beautifully lit and shot, contrasting its dastardly characters with the sunny and picturesque environment. This movie doesn&#8217;t make nearly as much use of locations. A trip to the airport and another scene late in the film look as if they were at least partly shot in front of a green screen. Again, all elements here pale in comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;ve never seen <em>Dirty Rotten Scoundrels<\/em> and know nothing about what you are about to see, then you may get a chuckle or two out of this picture courtesy of co-star Wilson. However, those who know the property that it is based upon will quickly realize that with this copy, the quality in general isn&#8217;t nearly as sharp, incisive or impressive. In the end, <em>The Hustle<\/em> is simply a replica that doesn&#8217;t match its predecessor. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The comedy The Hustle may seem like a fresh new film, but alas, it&#8217;s actually a remake. Specifically, a take on the classic 1988 flick Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (which itself was a re-imagining of the 1964 feature, Bedtime Story). So I should be upfront in saying that the 80s version has always been a personal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[197,983,1519,4660,4714,5899,7940,16764,16846,21069,21070,21071,21072],"class_list":["post-18287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-197","tag-alex-sharpe","tag-anne-hathaway","tag-comedy","tag-con-women","tag-dirty-rotten-scoundrels","tag-french-riviera","tag-rebel-wilson","tag-remake","tag-the-hustle","tag-the-hustle-film-review","tag-the-hustle-movie-review","tag-the-hustle-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}