The saying is that money makes the world go round, well you can add belief to that too, commerce and marketing rely heavily on that notion. The belief that this slip of paper is worth something, or the promises that the spokesman is making, is true. If you can manipulate that belief, you can change the world. In 2019, after a few years of development, it took two women to put the con finally on in The Hustle.

When two confidence tricksters, one, Penny a confidence trickster who uses her looks from Australia, and the other a British sophisticated lady, Jo, catch each other in the act, they quickly strike up a mentor-mentee relationship. Tensions rise as they set a wager on Jo’s entire fortune that they can’t pull the ultimate con on one Thomas Westerburg, an app mogul. With their uneasy relationship forming the basis of their long game against Thomas, Can either of these con artists achieve the fame and legacy of the famed Medusa?

The idea of a women-led scam film certainly makes sense, Hustlers came out a couple of months later to critical acclaim, and Oceans 8 showed that women could organise an intricate heist just as well as men. The Hustle is more focused on the laughs, and its cast helps valiantly in achieving that mission. Rebel Wilson is a particular shining star amongst the boon of mid-2010 comedy films, and her experience plays well here. Starring alongside her in a more straight-man role is Anne Hathaway. While not the most obvious choice of actor, she makes for a good partner, having a fair few rom-coms and regular comedies under her belt, and gets a couple of laughs here. Along with the likes of Dean Norris and Tim Blake Nelson to help round off The Hustle into an attractive package.

This being a remake, the plot line does follow Dirty Rotten Scandals rather faithfully, but of course with some modern touches thrown in as a lot has changed since 1988. You can see this reflected mainly in Penny’s introduction, an intricate catfishing exercise, involving dating apps and the like, their target made his fortune from an app called YaBurnt. The glitz and glamour of Spain make for a fun location, as the French Rivera did before, even though a lot of the film was filmed in London, most of the time, you can hardly tell.

If you expect the film to be a hazy recollection of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, you would be mistaken, The Hustle manages to bring in some 21st century pizazz to the classic long con. It is a remake that has a lot to say, all while remaining a rather funny romp through the Med, complete with rich tech guys and the glory of the resort towns. While a dazzling spectacle is one thing, The Hustle shows that seeing can certainly be believing.

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