Hustlers

May 15, 2020 - Constance Wu gets top billing but Jennifer Lopez provides the sizzle for this flick set in the world of New York City strip clubs. Cardi B and Lizzo have cameos, and Julia Stiles plays the journalist who writes an after-the-fact expose for New York Magazine.

The movie revolves around Destiny (Wu) as she tells her story to Stiles. Destiny recalls how she was a new employee at a strip club when she met Ramona (Lopez), a veteran dancer who took her under her wing. Ramona showed Destiny all the right moves. Everything was great until the stock market collapsed in 2008 and the boys from Wall Street stopped coming around.

It's hard out there for a stripper, so Ramona came up with a plan to make some easy cash. All they had to do was mix up a batch of something akin to a date-rape drug, slip it into the drink of a sugar daddy, and then rack up the charges on his platinum credit card. Ramona, Destiny and their crew made it work right up until they picked the wrong guy to scam.

Overall review: *** Not as much exotic dancing as you might think. But, plenty of skimpy clothes and a good soundtrack make up for it. Wu and J-Lo carry the movie, and their chemistry elevates what would otherwise be just an average movie.