'The Hustle' tries to be funny and ... sometimes it is.

The Hustle is a raunchy gender-swapping remake of a comedy from 1960s. Despite its many flaws, it still happens to occasionally be very funny but fails to deliver as a whole.

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as Josephine and Penny – con-artists from two different classes. Josephine is rich and sophisticated, while Penny is poor and naive. Two women who initially work against each other, eventually teaming up to scam and steal from men who wronged them.

The premise here is very simple, it's a comedy with vulgar and obscene jokes, the difference is that females are leads. It's a remake of Dirty Rotten Men with Steve Martin and Michael Caine from 1988, which is itself a re-imagination of 1964 Bedtime Story with Marlon Brando and David Niven. Our 2019s remake, to say the least - is far from being a masterpiece, or even frankly speaking a good movie, however it delivers on its foundation by making viewers laugh at least few times and enjoy absorbing the story.

Hathaway and Wilson have a lot of unexpected on-screen chemistry and genuinely work as a duo. Wilson does not show anything we haven't seen before, she plays a very similar part to the likes she did on Pitch Perfect or Isn't It Romantic and her other movies, Hathaway, on the other hand, shines in her icy, villainous performance – comedy however is not a new area for her, but the character she created is fun and fresh.

The Hustle as a whole picture is just mediocre. The plot here is very typical – pair of thieves, rich men and lots of shiny objects – which is an overdone Hollywood's mixture. As a female-led comedy, The Hustle could have had a bigger statement to say than just "female can be funny too", the plot and the way our leads meet probably would have been believable in the early 2000s. The settings, however, are truly beautiful and eye catching. Main characters are constantly surrounded by colorful, flashy and stunning landscapes that are appealing to the eyes.

The writing itself has too many missed opportunities. While throughout the film there is a lot of hilarious moments, some of them are also embarrassingly unfunny, which overall makes for a very uneven ride. With better direction and writers, The Hustle could have been a genuinely funny comedy, instead of just being watchable and passable. Not surprisingly the biggest directing credits of Chris Addison are TV shows and the said picture makes for his feature film debut.

In conclusion, whether people will enjoy watching this film or not, will be dependent on their expectations. If you will expect a brilliant comedy, full of twists and originality than you set yourself for a big disappointment, but if you expect nothing other than a feel-good comedy with plenty of dirty jokes and a feminine spin than you will most likely enjoy your time.

2.5/5

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