'Hustlers' is one of the best movies of the year — thanks to Jennifer Lopez

The opening scenes in “Hustlers” are pure camp. After a rough first day attempting to make money dancing for men, Constance Wu’s character Destiny sees a vision in neon lights. Ramona, played by Jennifer Lopez, enters stage right. She proceeds to perform a five-minute strip tease that women half her age would struggle to manage before rolling around on the floor, bathing in money. As she exits the stage clutching a giant wad of bills to her chest, she looks at the flabbergasted newbie and whispers: “Doesn’t money make you horny?”

In the wrong hands, this would be the start of a film no one’s career would walk away from.

In the wrong hands, this would be the start of a film no one’s career would walk away from. A dash too much self-seriousness, a teaspoon less self-awareness, and the entire project would have crashed and burned. But under the guidance of writer-director Lorene Scafaria, with the help of the indomitable Jennifer Lopez, this is not the beginning of a “Showgirls” redux. Rather, it is a thesis statement about America’s conspicuous consumption at the height of the Wall Street bubble. “Hustlers” is here to celebrate those outsiders who reached out for the brass ring of our corrupt capitalist system and took what they wanted without apology or explanation. Sure, these hustlers were committing credit card fraud and drugging their marks. It’s an ugly system, and nobody who wants to be rich gets there cleanly.

Inspired by a true story written up in New York Magazine, Lopez’s character Ramona picks Destiny to join her in what is the beginning of a beautiful yet twisted friendship. Already older than most of her dancing coworkers, she believes Destiny will do well among the high rollers in the private rooms upstairs.

As both women ride an increasingly lucrative wave, first of the economy’s making and then of their own, they swing between joyous shopping sprees and physical and emotional violence. That’s one of the reasons “Hustlers” works, the acknowledgement that these women — their attachments, their feelings, their choices — are complicated, messy and often awful. This is not a film about clichés; indeed, as adds more women to the pot, most notably Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart as co-conspirators Mercedes and Annabelle, it becomes more layered. Even after the 2008 crash, these women push on, motivated by emotions they may never be able to fully articulate even as they fall deeper down the rabbit hole of the scam.

This is a talented ensemble cast. But of the four main actresses, it’s Lopez who is the most mesmerizing. She’s come a long way from “In Living Color,” in the process passing through every possible celebrity permutation, from pop star to style mogul to paparazzi favorite, with bouts of acting and reality TV stardom in between. Now, having recently turned 50, Lopez seems to have reached another level; this is the role she was born to play. As the great Beyoncé wisely said: “A diva is a female version of a hustler.” Lopez is here to hustle you from start to finish.

source: nbcnews.com