United Artists | Release Date: May 10, 2019
3.9
USER SCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 99 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
20
Mixed:
33
Negative:
46
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand
Review this movie
VOTE NOW
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Check box if your review contains spoilers 0 characters (5000 max)
7
Davrosdaleks1May 10, 2019
The con artist comedy The Hustle is a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Michael Caine and Steve Martin, which was itself a remake of Bedtime Stories with Marlon Brando and David Niven. The lack of advertisement for this didn't leave meThe con artist comedy The Hustle is a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Michael Caine and Steve Martin, which was itself a remake of Bedtime Stories with Marlon Brando and David Niven. The lack of advertisement for this didn't leave me with high hopes. However, the movie was better than expected. Still, it was also a pale imitation of DRS.

The movie's biggest issue is that the plot from it's predecessor is basically replicated point-by-point. Everything is too expected. The reason Dirty Rotten Scoundrels became more entrenched in public memory than bedtime stories was because it was willing to take the story on a different trajectory. I mean the general idea of two con artists competing over a mark is a general idea that could've been reinvented in multiple ways. They could have at least changed geographic locations. If you haven't seen DRS, you'll probably get a lot more entertainment value out of this.

Rebel Wilson plays the Steve Martin/uncouth, "small-time" con artist role. The problem is that the film relies too much on her. It's clear, that a good portion of filming involved director Chris Addison just having Wilson ad-lib. When Wilson is funny, she is very funny. She can have such a delightfully sharp tongue. But she produces a lot of groaners, too. In fairness to Wilson, it was up to the director and editor to which material showed up on film. Doesn't help that the actress' character and a lot of her material feels recycled from previous films. They try to make her character sympathetic in the end, but the character is so acidic the audience's empathy isn't earned.

Anne Hathaway fairs a lot better as the Michael Caine/classy and haughty con artist. Her posh British accent is clearly fake, but she's so committed to the role that I couldn't help enjoying it. (The same can't be said for another accent she uses later on.) She also has a great control of non-verbal mannerisms. The best difference between this and DRS is that unlike with Michael Caine's total straight man The Hustle isn't afraid to knock Hathaway's haughty character down a peg and make her the butt of the joke at times. It's fun to see the character's rare moments where she loses her temper and drops all sense of control and class.

Alex Sharp plays the mark, and I'm afraid the character isn't very interesting or really leaves much of an impression.

I know I have a lot of complaints about this film, but the reason I didn't give this a lower rating is because when it was all said and done I didn't have a bad time. When it's funny, the movie is funny. (Also doesn't hurt that since this is set in the French Riviera, the whole thing looks nice.) This is by no means a great movie, but I didn't walk away feeling cheated either. Thing is that I can see some people really liking or disliking this. I say take a chance, but there's no need to make this something to see immediately.
Expand
0 of 4 users found this helpful04
All this user's reviews
10
Johno72May 17, 2019
This movie had me laughing from beginning to end, Anne Hathaway & Rebel Wilson were a dynamic duo in this movie. I love that they did a remake with a female cast because it worked so well. I also loved the ending (No I won’t give it away)This movie had me laughing from beginning to end, Anne Hathaway & Rebel Wilson were a dynamic duo in this movie. I love that they did a remake with a female cast because it worked so well. I also loved the ending (No I won’t give it away) BUT there could easily be a sequel to this movie & I am truly hoping they do. A sequel would be amazing because there’s so much more they could do & so many different storylines. I love both Anne Hathaway & Rebel Wilson & they really did such a fantastic job in this movie. Fingers crossed that it does well enough for them to make a sequel. Expand
0 of 4 users found this helpful04
All this user's reviews
10
MFirmanJun 16, 2019
I absolutely loved this movie, the pairing with Anne and Wilson were fantastic. I laughed so hard I couldnt breathe!
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
All this user's reviews
7
RalfbergsJul 12, 2020
I liked it as a silly comedy, didn't expect anything more from it. I guess rating maybe a bit too high but its some time since I watched it and still remember much of what happened in it so it wasnt like it was all boring.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
7
jared1209Feb 5, 2020
Light hearted comedy, don't expect too much. It provided a few good laughs and Anne Hathaway will always have my heart from Princess Diaries. Better stoned.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
10
DilaryDec 5, 2019
Simplemente es increíble, la mejor película que pude haber visto, no entiendo porque tiene mala calificación cuando es una gran película, tenía mucho tiempo que no me reía así con una película.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
7
DuckySpooky02Oct 27, 2022
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Esta buena, me hizo reír mucho, tenia mucho que una película no me hacia reír tanto, esta buena, pero no es una película que vería más de una vez Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews