What dirty rotten scoundrels. Oh, not Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway. I'm talking about whomever it was that decided to breathe life into this cruddy remake of a remake. Grade: C-Like an old Xerox copier, things start to look worse and worse when you make a copy of a copy of a copy. "The Hustle" is a remake of the 1988 film, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," which itself was a remake of the 1964 film "Bedtime Story." The original con artists were played by Marlon Brando and David Niven, re-imagined by Michael Caine and Steve Martin for the 1988 version. "The Hustle" puts a gender-flipping spin on the original characters, with Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway leading the way. The story pretty much remains intact, updated for modern times, but gone is the vital chemistry needed between the two leads. Rebel Wilson, in my humble opinion, is just not strong enough as an actress to carry lead roles thus far in her film career...she has always been most effective as a side-splitting peripheral character. And while Anne Hathaway definitely has the charm to pull off her high-class character, these two never achieve real laughs or create any sense that they are playing real people. I understand the desire to create a female-led version of a classic film, but these two just weren't the right fit. And honestly, if we're trying to celebrate girl power, why not put some women behind the camera? This movie may have two female leads, but it's directed by a man (Chris Addison) and the screenplay is credited to four individuals who - you guessed it - are all men. "The Hustle" looks to con you out of your movie-going dollars...don't fall for it. Grade: C- Genre: Comedy Run Time: 1 hour 34 minutes. Rated PG-13. Starring: Rebel Wilson, Anne Hathaway, Tim Blake Nelson. Directed by Chris Addison (feature-film debut). "The Hustle" is opening everywhere on Friday, May 10th, 2019.
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