Goodfellas Backwards and in Heels
One apt description for writer/director Lorene Scafaria’s true crime drama that I had heard before seeing it called the film “Scorsese in stilettos.“ Scafaria definitely evokes strong comparisons to Marty’s Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street, but she maintains her film’s own persona and keeps it from becoming a simple imitation of any other filmmaker’s work.
Based on a magazine article about a group of New York strippers who fleeced the Wall Street clientele of their club after the 2008 financial crash, the story focuses on Dorothy (Constance Wu) being taken under the wing of a club veteran, Ramona (Jennifer Lopez), who shows Dorothy how to perform for maximum profit, and stay in full control. As a film about women using their bodies for profit, Hustlers could cheaply show as much skin as possible to get butts in cineplex seats, but Scafaria has too much respect for her ensemble and characters to do that. The women are allowed to be as sexy as they want to be, and with a woman’s hand guiding the camera, our view of them is always about what they’re doing, not how much of their bodies we get to see.
When the film begins, pre-financial crash, it’s somewhat unspoken that the men paying for lap dances and the like know they’re being exploited as much as the women stripping for them. It’s not exactly wholesome, but all parties seem to respect certain boundaries and enjoy the non-sexual mutual benefits. After those “good guys“ lose their jobs in 2008, Dorothy and her peers encounter clients who expect sex for a little extra money; any mutual respect has evaporated entirely.
Dorothy and Ramona then set out to approach former clients on their own in a way that restores their control and gives them a larger slice of the profit. As with any Scorsese crime story, Hustlers soon turns into a tale of wanting more, and going to greater, more illegal lengths to get it. Scafaria maintains a lightness throughout without draining the film of its human drama. Dorothy and Ramona are both mothers, and they form a family with their fellow women in heels.
Wu makes a charming lead here, and the full Hustlers ensemble is well-served, but the film really belongs to Lopez. Playing both a mother hen and streetwise veteran, she commands attention whenever she’s onscreen, and as she leads Dorothy and others down a tenuous path, she never relinquishes the warmth that makes us gravitate toward her from the start. Hustlers probably won’t be in the Oscar conversation much, but Jennifer Lopez has rightfully been floated as a Supporting Actress contender. Regardless, she’s one of many great reasons to see a film that will likely become a classic with time.