ReelBob: ‘Hustlers’ ★★★★

By Bob Bloom

At one point near the finale of “Hustlers,” Jennifer Lopez’s character, Ramona, explains why she and her friends scam various men.

This country, she tells a journalist (Julia Stiles), who is interviewing her, is like a strip club — there are those who throw money and those who have to dance.

In a nutshell, that sums up this surprisingly sharp movie, which goes deeper and has more substance than anticipated.

The movie, written and directed by Lorene Scarfaria (“The Meddler), is more a story of economic survival than a caper drama about a group of former strippers who band together to scam Wall Street high rollers.

“Hustlers” begins in 2007, with Constance Wu (“Crazy Rich Asians”), as Destiny, trying to make ends meet by working at a strip club. With all the payoffs she has to make to the club’s management, she barely has enough to survive in the small Queens house she shares with her grandmother.

Destiny sees Ramona’s success and asks her for help to earn bigger tips. Ramona is like a den mother to most of the young women who dance at the club and is more than happy to help Destiny.

Soon, with Ramona’s coaching, Destiny is bringing in hundreds or thousands of dollars nightly.

Life is going smoothly until Sept. 29, 2008, when the Great Recession hits and the big spenders stop frequenting the club.

The movie skips ahead a few years, and times are tough for everyone. Ramona is working at a clothing store, and Destiny, who now has a young daughter, is working minimum-wage jobs.

Destiny reconnects with Ramona, who tells her of the scheme she concocted in which the women — who also include Mercedes (Keke Palmer) and Annabelle (Lili Reinhart) — get high rollers so drunk to the point they pass out. The women then run up their credit cards — often to the max — and split the cash.

The confident and cynical Ramona tells her friends that the men won’t complain because then they would have to admit to their wives — and the police — that they were good-timing it at strip clubs.

Scarfaria’s script, while justifying the women’s actions, does not condone them. She portrays the women as survivors, trying to make life easier for themselves and their families.

She does, however, undercut her own premise by showing them buying high-end clothing, accessories and cars — basically, placing themselves in the same category as the men they are ripping off.

It also doesn’t help that Scarfaria characterizes most of the women’s customers as low-life sleazes who use money like toilet paper.

Even though Wu gets first billing, the movie belongs to Lopez. She is a shrewd woman who knows how to read people. She is tough but tender to her friends, whom she often refers to as her “family.”

It is her best performance since 1998’s “Out of Sight.” She may earn a best actress or supporting actress Academy Award nomination.

Wu retains some of the sweetness she revealed in “Crazy Rich Asians,” but she has added a layer of edginess to her new role. Her Destiny may take advantage of men, but she preserves her moral compass.

“Hustlers” is a flashy, energetic feature, with a whiff of anger and indignation. The complexities and perceptions Scarfaria brings to her project make it more than a standard-issue crime caper.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

HUSTLERS 4 stars out of 5 (R), language, nudity, sexual content