I’m going to spend about as much time thinking about the new movie The Hustle as the screenwriters, producers, and everyone else with the project did: not much.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical about The Hustle (which is essentially a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) from the get go. 

The film is billed as follows:

 “In the hilarious new comedy THE HUSTLE, Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, who team up to take down the dirty rotten men who have wronged them.”

First, I’m going to let you guess -- between Hathaway and Wilson – which one is “low rent” and which is “high class.” If you guessed Wilson is the high class scammer then congratulations – you’re not as pessimistic about Hollywood’s treatment of “unconventional” women as I am. No, Wilson is the “low rent” chubby girl whose whole M.O. is to steal money from men who don’t find her attractive. The slender Hathaway is a dignified British woman with links to the royal family who speaks many languages, struts constantly, and has men falling for her left and right. Color me shocked.

Next, the description identifies Wilson and Hathaway as “female scam artists.” (WHAT?! BRUH! ARE YOU TELLING ME WOMEN CAN BE CON ARTISTS, TOO?! MIND BLOWN!) The qualifier clearly bothered me. For a movie that seemingly wants to be about women’s empowerment (I think?!?!) having to clarify that, yes – women can lie, and manipulate, and cheat just as easily as men can (maybe better) – seems completely tone deaf. (Lest we forget the age-old story of Eve getting poor innocent, rib-sharing Adam kicked out of the Garden of Eden for convincing him to eat the forbidden fruit… but I digress.)

The movie tries (and fails) to make a bigger point about gender roles. Hathaway’s character at one point gives a speech to Wilson, explaining that women make for successful con artists precisely because they are so frequently underestimated by men, but that’s pretty much where the film’s girl power moments begin and end. Throughout most of the film the women are in constant competition with each other.  Even the premise of the one scheme where they do work together (which is about as bizarre to watch as a crashing SNL sketch) is centered around the idea that Hathaway’s character is desirable and Wilson’s is abhorrent.  Could we not do better, writers?

Both Hathaway and Wilson deliver good performances. Wilson’s comic talents are hard to shine block, and Hathaway’s acting range is on full display as she rotates through a carousel of different accents and emotions in service of her various schemes. But it’s everything around them – from the marketing of the film, to the writing and directing – that sank it. Maybe there’s an alternate timeline where everything comes together and this movie works, but I’m not in it. 

--Kelsey Robinson

Friends, hello. I was once like you. And proud to be. In fact there’s footage out there of a 12-year-old me seated in front of my parents’ camcorder, presenting a fake newscast in which I warned my fellow classmates about the dangers of becoming addicted to Pokémon cards. Oh how disappointed my pre-teen self would be if she could see me today.
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I’m here to confess that the first live-action movie based in the Pokémon universe --  Detective Pikachu – is pretty great and fun experience from top to bottom.  The internet is already awash in far better reviews of this film than anything I’m going to write here, so let me instead make the case for Detective Pickachu to the Pokémon skeptics.

Yes it’s a kid’s movie. Yes it’s a noir. And yes it’s has magical animal creatures who humans train to battle each other but somehow it’s not exploitative. It doesn’t seem like those things should go together, and yet in Detective Pikachu, they all harmoniously do.

Some of the credit goes to the special effects team. The rendering of the creatures is a true delight. It doesn’t feel like you’re watching humans interacting with CGI creations. Pikachus and Psyducks and Cuebones interact and live seamlessly next to their human costars. Even if you’re not emotionally connected to or familiar with any of the characters from the Pokémon universe, it’s a real joy to see all of these quirky characters – some cute, some odd, some scary – come together and do their thing.

And the writing is not terrible! There are predictable moments for sure, but there are also some unexpected twists and turns, and sweet moments, and suspenseful ones, and this one scene with a mime that I am absolutely going to watch again on Youtube. The underlining message is nothing profound, but it doesn’t need to be, and that’s part of the fun.

Finally, I’m going to give it up for Justice Smith, who plays Tim (the film’s protagonist) and Ryan Reynolds, who plays Pikachu, also put on great performances. Reynolds packs a lot of cute charisma into that little yellow mousy critter – who manages to be a little edgy, but not a jerk, and gets to deliver the majority of the film’s punchlines (which, also, pretty good). And Smith fully immerses himself in the this Pokémon universe -- so honest, and sincere, and committed to truly learning to understand and care for this little Pikachu, and to get to the bottom of the film’s core mystery.  It feels good to root for him.

So if you’re impressed by visuals that are at the top of their game, good writing and engaging performances, treat yourself to some Pikachu. You don’t have to know of or have any interest in the Pokémon backstory to have a good time. 

--Kelsey Robinson