The Hustle (2019)
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Two con artists with very different styles must team up to swindle a tech billionaire.
The story
The film follows two women who set out to con an Internet millionaire. Penny Rust is a young, Australian, small-time con artist who catfishes wealthy men, while Josephine Chesterfield is a young, British, sophisticated con artist who cons the world's richest men. After a series of events on the French Riviera leads them to cross paths, the two women find themselves in a situation where they must navigate their differing methods and ambitions. They eventually enter into a wager involving a tech billionaire, the creator of an app called YaBurnt, and the stakes involve both their professional reputations and their personal feelings.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Penny Rust, a small-time Australian con artist, and Josephine Chesterfield, a sophisticated British con artist, meet on the French Riviera. After a conflict over a swindled man, Josephine pays Penny's bail and advises her to leave. However, Penny returns to Josephine to learn professional techniques. They perform a 'Lord of the Rings' con to steal engagement rings, but Josephine refuses to share the proceeds. They then enter a wager to swindle Thomas Westerburg, a tech billionaire. During the con, Penny pretends to be blind while Josephine poses as a doctor. The plot thickens as they realize Thomas is not a billionaire but is actually using his last money for her. Josephine tries to pivot the goal to stealing his feelings. After a series of complications, including a misunderstanding about their physical involvement, Penny discovers that Thomas is the true heir to the 'Medusa' title and that his feelings for her were genuine. Ultimately, they join forces with Thomas in a new scheme, and Penny and Thomas resume their relationship.
- First release year
- 2019
- Runtime (minutes)
- 94
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Chris Addison
- Writers
- Stanley Shapiro · screenplay; Paul Henning · screenplay; Dale Launer · screenplay; Jac Schaeffer · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Anne Hathaway · Josephine; Rebel Wilson · Penny; Alex Sharp · Thomas; Dean Norris; Timothy Simons; Ingrid Oliver
- Genres
- comedy; buddy comedy
- Themes
- Con artistry; Identity; Ambition
- Tone and mood
- Comedy
- Setting
- French Riviera and various locations during a con.
- Premise and plot tags
- Remake; Female-led; Buddy film
- Source material / true-story basis
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Bedtime Story (1964)
- Reception
- The film received negative reviews from critics.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 35 · scale: 100 · review count: 28; PostTrak · score: 73% · scale: percentage
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled Nasty Women.; A special trailer spoofed Avengers: Endgame.; The film was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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