2019’s Hustlers packs more storytelling into 110 minutes than many a movie with significantly longer running times.
A wholly original take on the ‘crime caper’ premise, it boasts compelling performances from Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu.
It is also a film that manages to live up to both the comedic and dramatic expectations that one might have of a comedy-drama, which is a rare treat in a world where the label ‘comedy-drama’ is often a label which indicates a deficit of either.
All in all a pretty good movie.
Score for Christmasishness
Christmas is not exactly a central theme throughout, but there is a fairly lengthy Christmas scene, which is both narratively pertinent and serves as character development. And it is a really Christmassy scene, so Hustlers more than makes the cut for my Christmas(ish) advent calendar.
James Proclaims! 