Review of Hustlers (2019) by Compi24 — 17 Sep 2019

Fresh off its illustrious festival debut at TIFF, writer/director Lorene Scafaria's "Hustlers" represents a solidly crafted and evocatively vibrant portrait of a true-to-life world of depravity, desperation, and crime, but not a whole lot else.

As a morality play, the film wavers between ambivalently observing and downright smirking at the questionable actions of the characters at large, an approach that doesn't exactly line up symmetrically with the more stern and cautionary final act.

How are we supposed to feel about these characters? I at least felt certain of this at the end of the film, but throughout? Not sure. The performances are all quite good, with Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez among the standouts.

I honestly wish I had more to say with this one, but I really don't think I was given that much else to discuss.