Jeri Jacquin
Coming to 4K Ultra HD, Bluray/DVD and Digital from director Lorene Scafaria and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment comes a group of woman who take on Wall Street as their own HUSTLERS.
Destiny (Constance Wu) is a young woman who just wants to take care of her grandmother and make ends meet. Her first night working as a stripper she sees that this is not going to be as easy as she thought. Watching the stage she sees Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) dance and walk off stage with more money than she has ever seen in on night.
Ramona takes a liking to Destiny and shows her some moves that might help her. The other girls Tracey (Trace Lysette), Star (Marcy Richardson), Mercedes (Keke Palmer), Annabelle (Lili Reinhardt) and Diamond (Cardi B). Watching and listening to them all Destiny begins to make money. Dancing with Ramona she makes even more money from Wall Street clients and her life begins to change.
Taking care of Grandma, getting an apartment and even going back to school become her top priorities. The girls are all reveling in the money they are making with gifts to each other and upgrading how they are living. That is all about to change as 2008 strikes like a tornado when Wall Street is hit and the money dries up. All the girls scatter and Destiny is now in a shaky relationship with a baby.
Unable to find work anywhere else, Destiny returns to the strip clubs to discover that a new breed of dancers have taken over. She is thrilled to see Ramona and the two women come up with a plan to get the money flowing once again. Wanting to get the money that's left from the Wall Street clients, they start their own business away from the club and everyone is back in the money.
But all good things come to an end, even friendships when decisions are being made that Destiny is not happy about. Now what they have been doing are stories waiting to be told.
Lopez as Ramona is a powerful teacher for her young learner. Raising a daughter of her own she understands the frustration of making it in the business. Taking Destiny under her wing is just the thing to motivate her to move even further up the pole. Lopez makes sure that she looks good and absolutely does in this role as the big sister to the stripper family. There is a scene between herself and another recognizable face that is entertaining.
Wu as Destiny is struggling to take care of her Grandmother and make a life for herself. Turning to dancing isn't as easy as she thought. Watching the other dancers walk away with tons of cash, she wants to learn how to do the very same. Her relationship with Ramona is special to her and not just because the 'big sister' teachers her how to make money but because someone seems to care about her. Wu starts out sweet and remains so throughout the film but also becomes jaded along the way.
Lysette, Richardson, Reinhardt and Palmer seem to just be enjoying themselves in the film but then again that's the point of the story. They were all enjoying the money and the camaraderie which made their lives easier. Cardi B had no problem taking the stage being no stranger from the stripper life. She actually was a stripper in her younger days so this role isn't much of a stretch but still fun.
Other cast include Vanessa Aspillaga as Manuela, Jay Oakerson as DJ, G-Eazy as Johnny, Emma Batiz as 12-year-old Juliet, Mette Towley as Justice, Julia Stiles as Elizabeth and Mercedes Ruehl as Mother.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are film of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.
STX Films and Entertainment is a global next-generation company who has taken on the mission to unlock the value of direct connection stars have with their fans through the development, production and distribution of film, television, VR, digital video, music and live entertainment content. It is the industry leader in transforming beyond traditional platform-driven content to creating talent-driven enterprises. To experience more please visit www.stxfilms.com.
HUSTLERS Bonus Features include a Feature Commentary with Director Lorene Scafaria.
This is a mixture of fun, sexy, fun and mischievous all wrapped up in a little bit of illegality. Look, it is not rocket science to figure out that the life of a stripper isn't an easy one. There are those who actually dance because they have family to take care of or are desperate to work just to survive. HUSTLERS puts all these options out on the table with no judgement of one another so they will get none here.
That being said, Ramona and Destiny are two women who didn't want to be tied down to a club where the money they make is being sucked up by the men who run the club. Pay outs are deep the more money you make and these two characters are done with that happening. I give them props for making sure that more of what they earn stays in their pockets.
These characters are feisty and smart which kept me interested in how they were constantly staying afloat. The film is inspired by journalist Jessica Pressler's 2015 viral New York Magazine article The Hustlers at Scores.
In the end - this is inspired by a true story!
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