Hustlers

The biggest mistake Jennifer Lopez ever made was marrying Ben Affleck. Jen and Ben became Bennifer. You couldn't get away from them. Every time you turned on the TV or cracked a magazine there they were. Then they started working together. A huge error. They created Gigli in 2003 and her film career went down the toilet soon after. She's worked solidly since but nothing ever struck a chord with the public. Until now. She's so good in Hustlers that she'll finally be able to forget that 16 year old turkey. Gobble gobble.

Manhattan. Before the financial crisis. Dorothy's a face fresh on the New York strip club scene but it's not working out the way she expected. One faithful cigarette break later she's taken under the wing of veteran stripper Ramona and oh how the cash rolls in. Then boom, the bubble bursts and the Wall Street money disappears. Life is tough when your body is your commodity so Ramona and Dorothy resort to unorthodox methods to stay living in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.

I honestly didn't know what to expect with this and left the cinema very very surprised. It's a look at the damage wrought by the financial crisis from a viewpoint far too often ignored in favour of bank bro's. Happily it's also so much more than the flesh fest promised by the trailers and there's a depth on display here that will genuinely surprise. Director Lorene Scafaria has a real affection for her characters and it shows in their interplay with each other (this film definitely passes the Bechdel test) and how they are displayed onscreen. It's odd seeing a film set in strip clubs filmed with a female gaze. The gratuitous nudity you'd usually expect to see is scaled back and almost incidental and it helps us viewers see the cast as people to empathise with instead of someone to ogle.

It's this ogling and treatment from the male customers of the clubs that makes the women's plan of action easy to swallow. Scafaria doesn't soften what they do or absolve them of their sins and it's refreshing to see them treated in the exact same way as a male cast would be. The glorification, the wallowing, the eventual fall. It's all present and it's here that comparisons to Scorsese's films like Goodfellas and The Wolf Of Wall Street are clear. Unlike those though you'll care about the people you're watching. They like each other and aren't out to stick the knife in as soon as they can.

Constance Wu (So good in Fresh Of The Boat) is a fine lead but Hustlers is J-Lo's baby. She's a fuckin' movie star here and owns the screen every time she appears, whether it be rocking a Chinchilla fur coat on a strip club roof or bonding with another generation over Frankie Valli. Ramona's someone everyone falls for and Lopez sells it with ease. It's an immensely likable performance and one that's going to reap awards with ease come next year. Every bloke that turns up in this is a sleaze. It's hilarious, it's pathetic and none of them are even worth mentioning. This one is all about the ladies.

Go see this. It's funny, it's thrilling, it's intelligent, it rocks.