Sporadically very funny thanks to its stars, THE HUSTLE is a gilded remake of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" that never quite reaches its potential.
Rebel Wilson is the best part of the movie as low class American con artist Penny. Playing the ugly American for all its worth, Penny stumbles across France from mark to mark.
She meets her opposite twin in Josephine Chesterfield, a wealthy con living in a stunning seaside villa with the cops and the town on her payroll.
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables, The Dark Knight Rises) is funnier as Josephine than I've seen her before, delivering every put down with posh sarcasm.
When the two pair up, the laughs double down too, especially when they prey on gullible rich men with a true ugly sister con that delivers some real LOL moments.
When they decide to make a wager to see who can seduce a young tech billionaire (newcomer Alex Sharp), the movie kind of wanders toward its big twist ending that will hold no surprises for anyone that has seen the Michael Caine/Steve Martin original.
Tamara and I saw John Lithgow and Norman Leo Butz on Broadway in the musical version of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and they mined HUGE laughs out of the material, as did Martin and Caine.
When comparing Wilson and Hathaway to either of those duos, the gold polish quickly rubs off and they fall short. Wilson is certainly game, but the chemistry never quite clicks.
At 93 minutes, its fast and enjoyable, but never quite cashes in on the concept. THE HUSTLE comes up short with a B-.
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