J.Lo Leads A Gang Of Radical Revolutionary Strippers In ‘Hustlers’ Trailer

There’s an old proverb in Spanish that I’ll (very) loosely translate to “robbing a thief gets you 100 years of mercy,” which is basically used to celebrate thieves getting a taste of their own medicine. This is the premise of Hustlers, where, post-2008 financial crisis, a group of glamorous strippers decide to steal from Wall Street-types and spend the money on themselves. Champagne, drugs, jewels and luxury go all around, as the group of strippers struggles to stay united while under the authority’s radar and living outside the margins of the law. The new movie will star Jennifer López, who will play the mastermind and matriarch of the gang, Ramona, accompanied by who else but Cardi B. And get this: Julia Stiles, as the reporter.

Actress Constance Wu will play Destiny, the new-kid-on-the-block stripper whom director Lorene Scafaria has described as the “protagonist of the story, who Ramona takes under her wing.” According to Scafaria, Hustlers is “really focused on these two women and their friendship.”

The film was based on Jessia Presslet’s 2015 article entitled “The Hustlers at Scores,” which tells the real-life story of these strippers. Pressler introduces her article with the following opening: “Here’s a modern Robin Hood story for you: a few strippers who stole from (mostly) rich, (usually) disgusting, (in their minds) pathetic men and gave to, well, themselves”.

Post-2008 financial crisis, J. Lo’s character rationalizes robbing from Wall Street men when she says that “These Wall Street guys… you see what they did to this country? They stole from everybody. Hard-working people lost everything and not one of these douchebags went to jail. The game is rigged and it does not reward people who play by the rules. It’s like robbing the bank except you get the keys.” 

Ramona is voicing opinions that Americans finally caught up to in 2016: the fact that the government bailout helped no one except for the perpetrators of the financial crisis. Ultimately, this lead to Trump campaigning on “draining the swamp,” a promise on which we’re still waiting, so watching strippers taking justice into their own hands at least deserves our empathy, but mostly makes up for what looks like mind-blowing entertainment.

“I was fascinated by what this story represents”, said Scafaria, “gender as it relates to money, the American Dream, the fact that people rarely think of women as ‘blue collar.’ It’s certainly a period piece also, about 2007 and 2008 and the financial crisis, and how it changed this industry — and these women.” If I didn’t know better, I’d say Hustlers is about a group of strippers who gain class consciousness and set out to either steal from the rich, or eat them altogether. A progressive thriller for progressive times?

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