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HUSTLERS (2019)

"Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right"

What You Need To Know:

HUSTLERS is based on a true story by a New York Times journalist. It opens in a New York strip club. Destiny has started dancing, so she asks for pointers from veteran stripper, Ramona. Rich Wall Street men are among their biggest clients. When the 2008 fiscal crisis hits, they must get minimum wage jobs. After a few years, Ramona and Destiny devise a new plan. They’ll reel in wealthy men who like to party. Then, after slipping drugs into their drinks, they’ll max out their personal and corporate credit cards and split the profits. They recruit some other women, but, with a business like this, it’s only a matter of time before they’re caught.

HUSTLERS is well produced. There’s some humor and the fact that it’s based on real events is interesting, but the amount of immorality is overwhelming. Because of their success at deceiving rich men, the women’s lifestyle is practically glorified, with the characters buying expensive clothes and cars. HUSTLERS also has frequent nudity, constant substance abuse, and lots of foul language. It’s an abhorrent movie with no redeeming qualities.

Content:

(PaPaPa, Fe, Acap, LLL, V, SS, NNN, AAA, DDD, MMM):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Very strong pagan worldview where the driving force of motivation is money and hedonistic self-pleasure, the main characters go to extreme measures throwing away any kind of moral values and beliefs in order to make more money, there is reliance on God or any basic morals to guide the people in the story, and the only reason why the extreme immorality stops is because of the legal authorities, plus some minor feminist elements as some of the motivation is female empowerment, and one or two brief anti-capitalism comments about rich men in business

Foul Language:
At least 118 obscenities and profanities (including many “f” words and some strong profanities), an obscene gesture, one character vomits when she’s nervous or scared and is shown throwing up multiple times throughout the movie

Violence:
Woman recalls how men in the strip club can be violent but it’s never depicted on screen, a man falls through a glass table, two women wrestle over a cell phone, a man is said to have jumped off of a balcony and hurt himself, and a woman has some of his blood on his shirt although no blood is shown on him, a surprised woman reacts and punches a man in the face

Sex:
Strong sexual content includes many comments involving self-abuse and other sexual acts, crude references to genitals, an unmarried woman finds herself pregnant, woman are said to be giving oral sex for money, a woman recalls getting paid for sexual favors after getting asked by a man many times, implied fornication

Nudity:
Upper female nudity throughout the entire movie from beginning to end, women are shown dancing very sexually either topless or in very little clothing, also shown in lingerie and scantily clad, women are shown undressing on a video tape, full rear, upper and side male nudity as a nude man jumps off a roof and has to be taken to the hospital without his clothes

Alcohol Use:
Characters rarely are shown without an alcoholic drink, many examples of drunkenness, constantly taking shots and having wine when not in a club

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
Multiple characters smoke cigarettes throughout the movie, cocaine is used very regularly and not at all rebuked, woman does bumps of cocaine while sitting in a mall in broad daylight, women make a mix of MDMA and Ketamine in order to drug their victims, multiple people are slipped drugs into their drink and are shown passed out or barely coherent; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:
Very strong miscellaneous immorality with many examples of dysfunctional families, a woman’s parents both left her when she was a child, a few examples of single mothers, an unmarried couple argue violently in front of their child, examples of blackmail as rich and powerful men are videotaped doing promiscuous things, major themes of greed as the characters go to extreme measures to make more money even though it’s not necessary, many examples of moral relativism as everyone in the movie (including the woman writing the article about this situation) feels that the women’s actions were justifiable because of the type of people they were drugging, stealing from and blackmailing, and examples of bad role models.

More Detail:

Based on a true story, HUSTLERS takes place in New York City following the lives of women who work in a strip club.

Destiny is an Asian-American woman who has just begun this line of work, and she’s not really doing so well. She feels awkward and unable to do the things the other girls do. One night, the emcee welcomes Ramona to the stage. Ramona has been in the business for a while and it clearly shows. She dances around on the stage, working all the men who watch her, and walks away with more cash than she can carry. Destiny is immediately drawn to Ramona, following her outside to the rooftop for a cigarette. They begin to quickly bond, and Ramona offers to give Destiny some tips on how to do better at this job.

Pretty soon, Destiny and Ramona work together seamlessly, raking in thousands of dollars. Destiny is finally feeling comfortable and independent, being able to help her grandmother pay off her debts and rent. However, they never predicted the economic crash of 2008. Because many of their regular clients are Wall Street guys, their clientele begins to dwindle away, causing the club to slow down tremendously. Around this same time, Destiny also finds out she’s pregnant, giving her many reasons to fear the future.

After she and her boyfriend break up, Destiny starts to scramble. She calls some of the men who previously had paid for her life while she was at the club, but it leads nowhere. At the end of her rope, she returns to the strip club, finding that the new girls have taken on new strategies to earn extra cash. Soon after returning, she runs into her old friend Ramona. They share in the struggle, as she finds out that Ramona has been working in retail making minimum wage since the crash. Ramona suggests they “go fishing” and reel in new clientele for the club. They recruit a few other cute dancers, and place themselves in high end bars and restaurants, searching for wealthy looking men, especially those with wedding rings. This plan works for a while, earning a commission on the money that these men spend at the strip club, until Destiny and Ramona see that other women have adopted the same strategy.

Ramona decides they need to take their business in house and begin to take men to homes and hotels. Soon after that, she finds that a mixture of MDMA and Ketamine can help these men feel good, but also not remember what happened the night before. This way, they can slip this mixture into their drinks and charge their personal and business credit cards to the max, and the men just believe that they were having a good time, tipping and buying drinks all night. Destiny begins to have second thoughts about this, but now they’re in too deep. However, this type of business can’t go on too long, and when they loop in a new person, everything begins to crumble before them.

HUSTLERS is based on true events originally written about by a female journalist for the New York Times. Men were making the newspaper in New York for spending upwards of $100,000 at a strip club. The women who were doing these things felt their actions were justifiable because of the men who they were swindling and blackmailing. They viewed these men as thieves, and so the money that they were taking was already stolen.

HUSTLERS is well produced and talented stars like Jennifer Lopez and successful newcomer Constance Wu. Also, with names like comedian Will Ferrell and comedy director Adam McKay attached, the humor hits really well and the story is told in a way that’s entertaining.

However, the amount of questionable, immoral content in the movie is astronomical. Also, of course, the subject matter of the movie is completely immoral. The girls make their living from dancing around wealthy men, sometimes topless, and sometimes performing sexual acts for money. There is a high amount of nudity and sexual implications, as well as lots of strong foul language. The drug use is sometimes consensual, and sometimes done without the person’s knowledge, and there is rarely a scene without alcohol. Although it’s done to tell the story, the amount of immoral content depicted is disgusting. Also, everyone in the movie (including the female journalist writing about the situation) thinks the women’s actions were justifiable because of the type of men they were drugging, stealing from and blackmailing. So, the movie’s viewpoint is as abhorrent as the behavior it depicts.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


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