One of my favorite Steve Martin films is the uncanny work he turned in (opposite Michael Caine) in 1988’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. MGM has presented a remake of the con man comedy classic and with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson serving as the comedic one-two punch, anticipation is high.
Of course, neither Hathaway or Wilson have the comedy chops of Caine or Martin. But, then again, that does not matter here because The Hustle is its own beast and as laid out by screenwriters Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning, Dale Launer and Jac Schaeffer, one is never reminded of that first film in any way witnessing the two actresses do their best to con men into turning over wads of cash.
The key to this story working, like it was in the original, is the chemistry between the two leads. Hathaway and Wilson make a great team and as she is showing with each successive role, Wilson is a fine partner to pair with for a variety of reasons. For example, earlier this year, she shined in the slightly above average most unique of rom-coms, Isn’t It Romantic. The Australian funny woman played off Adam Devine divinely. In Hathaway, she has an Oscar winning scene partner who has never met a challenge she didn’t overcome. For her to succeed in comedy, it must be the right role within a landscape that befits her comic sensibilities. Also, Hathaway’s part needs to be so firmly intertwined with the rest of the cast’s characters, so she doesn’t have to carry the comedy. For example, she rocked (and deserved some Oscar consideration in my book) in 2018’s Ocean’s 8 (yes, playing a con woman with seven others who shared her career aspirations), and I would argue was the best thing about the entire movie. Now, The Hustle is no Ocean’s 8—itself a female led update of an established property.
The stakes were high with the Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett Met Gala robbery picture and this film has no such pressures. MGM must believe in the film because it is giving it a prime early summer release date. They are also not going out of their way to inform the movie going public that this is a remake. Only those in the know who are fans of the 1988 movie or are film aficionados who trade in such news even seem to care. The selling point here is Hathaway and Wilson working their magic in a game of high stakes conning with the South of France as the luxurious backdrop for their nefarious efforts.
In The Hustle, the two find that they both cannot do what they do in this slice of paradise where the rich come to play and those who hustle come to well… do The Hustle. The two con women decide that they will go all in on a mark who is a tech billionaire (Alex Sharp). Whoever gets him to fork over a half a million (for what you’ll have to see the movie) first is the winner and the loser must leave town. Each uses what got them here to try to out con the other. Hathaway uses her knowledge, charm and sensuality to try to lure the computer geek while Wilson utilizes are much more earnest path … basically presenting a version of herself to him with gross alterations (she pretends she’s blind and needs a surgery that costs, you guessed it: $500,000).
In the end, Hathaway and Wilson are terrific together and witnessing them go at it, half endearingly and half competitively, is a joy. One can see why these two characters would have a love and loathe relationship with the other. There is an element of respect that the two actresses inject into their characterization that is welcomed. See, each character has to have some sort of redemptive quality. After all, we are cheering for two souls who are swindling others. Both actresses triumph in that vein, but what suffers is that the film itself doesn’t have the same story spark that Hathaway and Wilson deliver as collective characters.
It is not that The Hustle is boring. The film more just plods along and feels at time that it is merely going through the motions. In this case, one must fault the director, Chris Addison. After cutting his teeth directing television comedies (Veep and Fresh off the Boat), he makes his big screen directorial debut with this remake and perhaps does not quite have the command of his craft in tow because everything works in his film, it just doesn’t pop in the way that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels popped and has been popping for decades since its release as it is discovered and embraced by new generations. There were also more laugh out loud moments and classic movie quotables throughout the Martin and Caine flick that I failed to find in the remake.
The true sign of an indelible comedy is that the laughs arrive fast and furiously and are produced from a varied landscape of humor tropes. Perhaps a bit of the blame could also be placed on this screenplay by committee. Rarely does a comedy, in particular, work when there are a bevy of writers. Sure, it works on the television screen with famed writers’ room. But film is a different animal in that sense. There needs to be a clear and humorous voice that is ever-present for the entire 90 minutes (or whatever time the film clocks in with). The Hustle felt like it was written by a quartet of people who give us a few laughs, but they are not congruent throughout and are definitely not consistent and persistent throughout.
Hathaway and Wilson can only do so much, the writers and director must take their supreme talents and provide them with a world where their triumphs mean something. The Hustle is enjoyable, for sure, but it is like the movie version of cotton candy. It tastes sweet, goes down divine, but moments after its conclusion, it’s hardly remembered.
Grade: B-