The Hustle

Locations
Call Number: Blu-ray Comedy Hustle
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Originally released as a motion picture in 2019.
Adapted from the film "Dirty Roten Scoundrels" (1988).
Wide screen.
Special features: Hitting the mark; Comedy class; Con artists; feature commentary with Chris Addison.
Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Tim Blake Nelson, Alex Sharp, Dean Norris.
Josephine Chesterfield is a glamorous, seductive Brit who defrauds gullible wealthy men. Penny amasses wads of cash by ripping off her marks in neighborhood bars. Despite their different methods, both are masters of the art of the fleece, so they combine talents for their next mark: a naive tech billionaire.
Blu-ray, 1080p high definition, DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, requires Blu-ray player.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Great Concept, But Ableist Content submitted by Meginator on August 20, 2020, 12:46am Content Note: This film plays up a (feigned) disability for laughs as a major plot point.

It’s so lovely to see a comedy like this starring two talented female actresses, given that women are seldom offered autonomous agency in these films. Unfortunately, despite strong performances by Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, I just couldn’t get past the script’s reliance on ableist stereotypes; surely the writers could have come up with a better ruse for the leads to pursue, one that doesn’t play into harmful and tired tropes. The film itself is laugh-out-loud hilarious, so much so that I sometimes found myself on the verge of tears from laughing so hard, but I felt increasingly uncomfortable after the relevant twist. This is a shame, because so much of this movie is so excellent: the odd couple chemistry between Hathaway and Wilson is pitch-perfect (Hathaway in particular achieves remarkable subtlety to really make her role work), the general story arc works really well even if you see the final twist coming in advance, and the writing is generally sharp and witty. Hopefully filmmakers will see the potential of films like this and offer something that is equal in comedy but without the ableist undertones.