Seasons are changing. Hopefully the film quality does with it.
Director Lorene Scafaria wears her Martin Scorsese influence on her sleeve in just about every aspect of "Hustlers," from character dynamics to editing.
The story of strippers banding together to get through the fallout of the mid-2000s financial recession by turning to violating the rights and privacy of the upper class that they serve and are often abused by, only to fall victim to the same excess necessitating them to do so to survive an unforgiving and unbalanced capitalist society, is laden with "rise and fall" gangster tropes that aren't bound to win any originality contests any time soon.
Despite the influence oozing from its marketing material however, don't be fooled into thinking that the film's stock stylistic choices hold it back from being one of the better flicks of 2019 thus far.
Execution is the name of the game "Hustlers" delivers on in spades.
On top of the unique application of the gangster movie style to the premise of intelligent women struggling to get by, with a pleasantly surprisingly progressive perception on their chosen vocation, which isn't particularly denigrated, condemned, or exploited for sleazy visual titillation beyond the needs of the story itself, the story that unfolds cleverly holds up a mirror to the capitalist society that we live in and indicts the institutions that make the heinous crimes its protagonists commit necessary to survive, without exonerating them for their willingness to set up a full ring for the act while treating themselves to lavish and extravagant treats on a regular basis comparable to the excess of the crop of people that they justify screwing over without discrimination.
All of this is presented within a tightly edited and stylish package that is held together by stupendous performances. Jennifer Lopez may put forth one of the absolute best acting jobs of her career, owning her presence and slightly older age gracefully and charismatically, while Constance Wu demonstrates a level of leading lady potential that has me excited to see what's to come of her already impressive career.
"Hustlers" may come across as cinematic comfort food on the surface but the strength of its tight execution in direction, cinematography, editing, craftsmanship, and performances give it an extra leg up of lesser similar films as well as hopefully putting several careers on public radars that deserve to be followed.
8 Lap Dances out of 10
In the near future, Commander Roy McBride grapples with the recent revelation that his father, long believed dead on a space mission intended to discover life on other planets and with whom he holds a complicated relationship, is alive and may be related to odd scientific phenomena causing debilitating electronic blackouts on Earth.
Before the problem escalates to send humanity back to the dark ages, Roy must conquer his emotional baggage after a lifetime of emotional suppression in order to literally cross the solar system and back for the fate of humanity as we know it.
One might not expect such an emotional journey to be crafted from a director shown to be as introspective James Gray but "Ad Astra" has a lot to say about the need for humanity to healthily come to terms with its emotions in the face of our perception of logic and rationale being something attainable only in a vacuum devoid of feelings.
Admittedly, the biggest problem with "Ad Astra" is the presentation of its story; Gray's direction, enforcing a slower and deliberate pacing style as well as technical choices made to enhance character-centric atmosphere run counter-intuitive to the frenetic and kinetic trappings of blockbuster formatting.
Despite this however, the movie becomes heavily reliant on monologues delivered by Brad Pitt regarding his emotional state and pontificating on his own perception of his life up to this point that it almost feels like the movie cuts corners in the name of telling instead of showing to speed the film up for less patient audiences.
While far from experience shattering, this flaw becomes so prevalent that I can't hep but speculate on whether or not a more meditative director's cut of the film ala "Blade Runner" exists that had to get hacked down to make the pass on a studio executive level.
Whatever may or may not have happened to "Ad Astra" in post production however, the final film that we have received is still a very welcome and very thoughtful adventure movie.
Pitt's journey will ring powerfully for anyone that's ever been raised in an environment favoring personal emotional suppression by authority over actually dealing with problems with complex solutions but should be nevertheless solvable and much of that is hinged on his performance, portraying a man that is dealing with some painful baggage but shines through as a determined and resourceful individual that won't be stopped by his pain, even as he comes to accept the need to come to terms with it rather than push it back down again.
Add in a painfully blunt and cynical but undeniably true outlook that capitalism may be the only way space colonization comes to pass in our lifetime, leading to a gaudy and sardonically corporate looking future complete with brand advertisement galore and a dedication to fairly grounded aesthetics that keep space looking both wondrous and dangerous all at once, and the end result becomes one of the more unique adventure movies from a visual perspective to come along in quite some time whether the emotional investment lands or not.
Fortunately "Ad Astra's" ability to link a man grappling with the reality of his father loving his job more than himself actually manages to blend well with scenes featuring lunar roving space pirate shootouts. That's an impressive feat in and of itself.
9 Light-years out of 10
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