MOVIE REVIEW: HUSTLERS

Working as a stripper to make ends meet, Destiny's life changes forever when she becomes friends with Ramona -- the club's top money earner. Ramona soon shows Destiny how to finagle her way around the wealthy Wall street clientele who frequent the club. But when the 2008 economic collapse cuts into their profits, the gals and two other dancers devise a daring scheme to take their lives back.

Director: Lorene Scafaria

Cast: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, Cardi B

Release Date: September 13, 2019

Comedy, Crime, Drama

Rated R for pervasive sexual material, drug content, language and nudity

Runtime: 1 h 50 min

Review:

Hustlers is a surprisingly engaging film mixed with a strong undercurrent of feminism and female friendship.  Lorene Scafaria has crafted a film that’s funnier than it is dramatic at any point.  You can’t help but feel that there’s probably a deeper story in there somewhere and we only get to know the characters on their most basic levels. Still, it’s entertaining easy flowing film that’s more fun than it deserves to be.  Scafaria keeps the action moving at a steady pace never lingering too much on anything in particular, this makes some of the more superficial aspects of film brush off easier.  Constance Wu carries the film with ease while showing off a hefty bit of range as she goes all in with her character.  Her character isn’t the showiest role in the film but it’s the heart and soul of the film.  Jennifer Lopez does solid work here even though you get the distinct feeling that she’s just playing a version of her own personality in real life with a stronger tan.  Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart are fun in supporting roles, unfortunately Julia Stiles is sadly underused.  Hustlers is the kind of crime dramedy just fun even if it’s not particularly deep.  

B

MOVIE REVIEW: JASON BOURNE

Matt Damon reprises his role as the titular former CIA agent with a hazy past. Jason Bourne is the fifth installment in the action franchise, and the third to be directed by Paul Greengrass. ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi

Director: Paul Greengrass 

Cast: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassel, Alicia Vikander

Release Date: Jul 29, 2016

Rated PG-13 for Intense sequences of violence and action, and brief strong language. 

Runtime: 2 hr. 3 min. 

Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller  

Review:

Jason Bourne marks the welcome return of Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass to the Bourne franchise.  The results are mostly good with only a few hiccups here and there, mostly script wise.  Matt Damon easily slips back into Bourne’s skin with solid results.  Damon has always given Bourne a tortured quality which is rare in the spy genre and one of the things that makes the franchise so interesting.  There are plenty of new faces in this entry with one lone returning cast member being cast off after setting the plot in motion.  Tommy Lee Jones, at his most scowly, serves as the big bad this go around and he’s serviceable even though his character is slightly underwritten.  Vincent Cassel suffers a similar fate the assassin on Bourne’s trail throughout the film which is a shame because it’s a waste of a fine actor.  Alicia Vikander, who you can tell is serious because her hair is pinned up throughout, does the best she can with the character she’s given.  A late act turn is fairly interesting but would have made for a more interesting plot line had it been explored throughout the movie.  The biggest issue with Jason Bourne isn’t that it’s a bad movie, far from it, its that it feels very familiar, following familiar beats we’ve followed through most Bourne films.  Still, Greengrass delivers some fantastic sequences especially the logistically impressive Greek riot sequence and collateral damage excess of the final act’s Vegas sequence.  The hand to hand fight to top off the film is probably one of the brutal fights I’ve seen in recent memory.  Jason Bourne adds up to a solid film even though it’ll leave you wishing there was a bit more innovation.     

B

Cindy Prascik's Review of Jason Bourne

Dearest Blog: Yesterday I took a pass on the company picnic (Outdoors? In July? Are they kidding?) to head up to Marquee Cinemas and catch up with Jason Bourne. 

Spoiler level here will be mostly mild, nothing plot-specific, but I do offer an opinion at the end that some might consider slightly spoilerish. If you're worried, read after you've seen it, please! 

Jason Bourne is back with a vengeance, looking for answers and on the run for his life. 

Ahhhhhhh...dear Reader(s)...remember the good not-so-old days when Jeremy Renner appeared poised to take the reins of both the Bourne and Mission Impossible franchises? 

Fast forward a few years, a pair of Hollywood A-Listers decide to hang onto their cash cows, and Renner is again relegated to being the Avengers' Katniss Everdeen. (But at least he got a backstory, am I right??) 

There's nothing wrong with Matt Damon, of course, but you may count me among the silent minority that would have enjoyed this picture a lot more with Renner at the fore. 

Jason Bourne kicks off with a chase scene that outlasts even that one from Jupiter Ascending that put me to sleep three times and was still rolling when I woke up. I mean, this thing GOES ON. The sequence includes some pivotal moments, but it also highlights one of the movie's key weaknesses right out of the gate: too much filler. 

Jason Bourne has more running than a Ten-era Doctor Who episode and enough vehicular carnage for a Transformers movie; had filmmakers exercised even a bit of restraint, they'd have had a far better end product. Much of the action is filmed in up-close-and-personal fashion. 

The fight scenes are brutal and well executed, but the wiggly camera work is enough to trigger a seizure. It's a passable tactic when used wisely, but, here, again, there's just too much of it. Damon is appropriately grim in the lead, his sour expression a constant reminder of the Very Serious Situation at hand. 

Oscar winner Alicia Vikander is a disaster, bringing all the dimension of a paper doll to her important role, while struggling mightily to hang onto the same accent for any two consecutive scenes. The rest of the supporting cast is unremarkable, but fine for what's asked of them. 

The story is no more or less convoluted than any other installment in the series, sure to leave questions if (like me) you've mostly forgotten the earlier films, but not so deep that any fan of action flicks couldn't enjoy it even if he'd never seen a Bourne movie before. 

Finally, as if Jason Bourne weren't enough of a jumble, three-quarters of it feels very much like an ending, but the last act does a complete about-face and clearly sets the stage for more. Jason Bourne clocks in at an excessive 123 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, and brief strong language." 

Boasting action a-plenty and a solid cast that deserves better, Jason Bourne is, unfortunately, a bit of a snooze. 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Jason Bourne gets four. 

Until next time...