Can a gender-flipped remake of a classic con artist comedy recapture the original magic?
In short: The Hustle is a 2019 comedy featuring two female con artists competing to swindle a tech billionaire. While the film reimagines the premise of 1988's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, critics were largely unimpressed, leaving audiences to wonder if the gender-swapped twist was enough to sustain the classic con artist narrative.
The Hustle follows Penny Rust, a small-time Australian grifter, and Josephine Chesterfield, a sophisticated British operator, as they navigate the French Riviera. Their rivalry centers on a wager involving Thomas Westerburg, a young tech billionaire. The plot mirrors the structure of its predecessors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Bedtime Story (1964), but introduces a modern twist involving a tech app called YaBurnt and a legendary con artist figure known as Medusa.
Development for the project began in August 2016 under Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. Initially titled Nasty Women—a reference to a 2016 presidential campaign debate—the film was eventually retitled The Hustle. Directed by Chris Addison in his feature debut, the production featured Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson as the leads, with Alex Sharp cast as the target of their elaborate schemes. Principal photography took place in the United Kingdom during September 2017.
Despite a production budget of $21 million, the film's reception was largely negative. It holds a 13% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 35 out of 100 on Metacritic. Critics like Peter Travers and Peter Bradshaw noted issues with comedic timing and execution. Nevertheless, the film performed reasonably well financially, grossing $97.4 million worldwide. By the second quarter of 2020, MGM reported that the film was generating net revenue for the studio, proving that critical disapproval does not always equate to a lack of commercial viability.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: The Hustle (film)
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