I am always interested in films that come out of a simple article of some sort. More often than not the story they are based on are more unreal than anything in Hollywood. The latest Hustlers is inspired by article published by New York Magazine entitled "The Hustlers at Scores" written by Jessica Pressler and stars Jennifer Lopez,  Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, Cardi B, Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart, but could it bring the article to life in a way that makes you want to get in on the party or is it time to get off the pole?

 

 Hustlers follows a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients. Outside of the trailers I hadn’t heard too much about this one, so wasn’t sure of the overall tone to expect going in. In this case it was best because it could have been promoted in so many different ways since it offers up some laughs, drama and a party all at once. Not all of it works perfectly, but in the end it still manages to work overall. There are some strange cuts and moments that drag out a bit too long at times that could have been trimmed down to make a more streamlined film. Despite these small issues it still delivers an interesting story watching these ladies in action as they go from dancers to criminals and blur the lines in between.

 

All of the cast are great with Constance Wu really being the lead here. She does a good job carrying the load as she evolves from shy struggling stripper to powerful moneymaking woman. I am admittedly not a fan of Jennifer Lopez, but she is really good in this role. She not only clearly worked her butt off physically to get in the best shape of her life, which is already saying something, but she brings the powerful woman persona to perfection. When she walks in the room you believe she runs that joint and can’t take your eyes off her. The rest of the cast do great rounding out the crew with each of them having their own moment to shine. Fans hoping to see much of Cardi B will be disappointed as she is pretty much just a couple of cameos, but when she is on screen she steals the spotlight.

 

For a film about strip clubs and dancers I was surprised how little nudity was here, not that it was needed. They did a good job of balancing out the crime story with the stripper life as it evolved and in the end made for a pretty good flick, but as mentioned could have been so much better had it been trimmed up.

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Step onto the stage to make that money when Hustlers available now on digital and then on 4K Ultra, Blu-ray and DVD on December 10th from Universal Home Entertainment.