The Hustle

A remake of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, which is itself a remake of “Bedtime Story” from the 1960s, this is a close enough redo that the original screenwriters are still credited (one of them is Paul Henning of “The Beverley Hillbillies”!). And the simple basic structure basically works – two con artists, one sophisticated, one vulgar, both work in the south of France, and after escalating rivalry, they decide to take a bet on who can con one particular mark better. And the key two roles are well cast- Anne Hathaway has a ball as the snob, and Rebel Wilson is thoroughly at home with the vulgarian. If this doesn’t ultimately work quite as well as the original, it’s partially due to being a little too loosely directed (the climactic set of twists don’t quite land with the sharp thump they need), and partially due to the mark, when he arrives, looking noticeably like a 12 year old and quite clearly never being quite as interesting as either of his scene partners. But for much of its length this is a reasonable enough light diversion.