Hustlers

The first 45 minutes of _Hustlers_ is wealthy Wall Street brokers throwing money at strippers who don't strip. Seriously, _Hustlers_ underestimates how many films I've seen of 'what really happens in strip clubs'. I feel I've seen the seedy life of exotic dancing more than I have Spider-Man origin stories, truth be told. The second half of the film is the crime, which is nothing more than a slow, inexorable grind to the inevitable. You want to see what difference a director can make? Watch this back to back with _The Wolf of Wall Street_ and let me know what you think. Shame really, because Jennifer Lopez, unsurprisingly turns in yet another strong performance. That said, the only Oscar talk I can see with this film would be if I see a guy named Oscar talking about this film.

J Lo - really excellent. Constance Wu - very good. The story - anticlimactic. Blame the editing and the direction. It builds and builds and then peters out when the scam is up. Shame. 6/10