I would be honored to be scammed by them. I heard JLo dancing, I heard scams were taking place, I had to see it. Hustlers follow a group of strip club employees who come together to steal money from their Wall Street clients after the 2008 economic downturn. Try to imagine the chaos of Breaking Bad, but if it was New York City strippers instead of Walter White. It sounds weird when I say it like that, but that's what this movie is. Believe me when I say that it actually works. Similar to Walter, Destiny, played by Constance Wu, and Ramona, played by Jennifer Lopez, get really desperate when life post-2008 is not great for a stripper. Their normal high-rolling Wall Street clients are no longer coming in. They devised this whole plan, including a scene where they do, in fact, make batches of drugs like Walter, to scam them to get their old lifestyles back. However, neither Destiny nor Ramona gets too like dark-Walter to make them unlikable. Scafaria created this beautiful sisterhood theme that ran rampant in the movie, and I loved it so much. I was wondering if this would turn spiteful and was always surprised when it never turned that way. Most movies that have a strip club plot generally have the strippers becoming competitive enough to stab their friends and accomplices in the back without even blinking. However, Scafaria chose that when Destiny and Ramona were at odds, they were still best friends and relied on each other. They also opened their circle to Mercedes, played by Keke Palmer, and Anabelle, played by Lili Reinhart and embraced them as their sisters. It still never got catty between all of them even when their scheme went downhill. It was mind-opening about how women in these situations, strippers and sex workers alike, form their own communities to lean on. You can feel the camaraderie and love from the things that unite them, which was both heart-warming but also empowering. If this didn't have a female director, I imagine I would not feel the same about this movie. Yeah, these women were sexy, but they were also emotional and had the drive to do the things they were doing.
It shows that investing in diverse talent, in women and in BIPOC creators, really does make a difference. And it's worth it. This is to the person who picked the 2000s throwbacks for this movie - you have TASTE!
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