Grade: F
Normally I am a big fan of “Con Artist” movies because they always have a great payoff after a fun and creative movie. Movies such as 21, Trading Places, and my all time favorite, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels all achieved that moment of excellence with a great kicker at the end to send you home laughing. The Hustle simply doesn’t hit “the mark.” Some of the cons are somewhat creative but the majority of them come off as boring and really not that funny. While Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson would make for a great comedic pair on paper, it just did not translate well on screen. Hathaway does do a pretty good job in her dynamic role and she convincingly portrays many made up characters with their respective accent in order to con a mark. Wilson, on the other hand, not so much. The whole movie is basically showing how Wilson tries to prove herself to Hathaway as a con artist and if she is worthy enough to work in her circle of con artists.
My main reason for seeing the movie was the who con artist plot, which I always find entertaining and fun, and I am a fan of Anne Hathaway. I hate to admit that I was starting to doze off at times during the comparatively short 93 minute run time. It just simply did not hold my attention. It did have a few chuckles but they were few and very far between. I credit that to basically lazy writing. The jokes included in the movie are totally recycled and over done in many other movies. Cheap humor.
The one thing that The Hustle provided was gorgeous scenery of the French Riviera. The sets and outlandish hotels used throughout the movie made it seem as if it were a classier movie than what it really was worth. Hathaway and Wilson were both “dressed to the nines” at times when the scene called for them to prey upon some men of a higher class. Fake it until you make it was definitely included within the theme of the movie. I guess it worked in a way because I was conned into thinking I would be laughing and entertained for 93 minutes? Bravo to their marketing team! As it turns out, the biggest con is not within the movie but it is rather the moviegoer that is being conned. The Hustle came out on Mother’s Day weekend I hope you did not drag your mother to this boring slog of a movie on that special day. If you’re in the mood for a good con artist movie, stick to watching Dirty Rotten Scoundrels again for the XXXth time, to me, it never gets old!