The reviews are out for Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson’s new comedy The Hustle are out and… well, they are not good.
Anne and Rebel both star in the new farce, a female-led remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which sees them teaming up to con rich men who have wronged women out of their fortunes.
Critics seem decidedly underwhelmed by The Hustle, though, with film reviews website Rotten Tomatoes initially giving it a score of 0%, meaning no one had given it a positive write-up (via the Daily Express), though this has since risen to a slightly-more-respectable 18%.
Open Image Modal
Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson
Universal
Here’s a selection of what the critics are saying so far…
“They say it’s all in the timing, especially when it comes to funny business. But in The Hustleeveryone’s inner comedic clock is calamitously off… Any comedian will tell you: Don’t let them see you sweat. This movie damn near drowns in perspiration.”
“Anne Hathaway detonates a megaton blast of pure unfunniness in this terrifying film. She leaves behind a mushroom cloud of anti-humour, reducing every laugh possibility to grey-white ash in a postapocalyptic landscape of horror and despair.”
“The slapstick sequences… are never quite slick enough. The verbal interplay isn’t as witty as you might hope either. Smutty jokes about STDs, lesbian cops, drunken Essex girls and chastity belts don’t help.”
“Rebel Wilson is left with far too much to do, and not enough material to work with, in every scene. Anne Hathaway’s accent is so appalling it drowns out all other considerations… It requires a catastrophic alignment to make such a dog’s dinner of a decent conceit, especially when everyone involved is plainly working terribly hard.”
“There are so many missed opportunities to make this film sharper… The Hustle goes from a forward-thinking female-centered modern reimagining to a silly, empty, and entirely useless remake.”
“Alas, those looking for a sharply feminist reinvention of this tale will have to wait another couple of decades.., moviegoers hoping for a mercilessly funny post-Weinstein revenge fantasy (its poster declares: ‘They’re giving dirty rotten men a run for their money’) will walk away feeling conned.”
“[There’s] not much that rises to the level of unforgettable, wild-eyed, laugh-out-loud hilarity. But… comedy is in a weird place right now, and The Hustle deserves some credit for fulfilling its own modest, escapist ambitions.”
The Hustle arrives in UK cinemas on Friday May 10.
Film Remakes We Love To Hate
The Stepford Wives (2004)(01 of12)
Open Image Modal
Essentially everyone involved in this remake has since distanced themselves from it, including both Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick, while Frank Oz admitted he “f***ed up” with ‘The Stepford Wives’, which was marred by rumours of on-set fighting and several rewrites during production. (credit:Snap Stills/REX)
Planet Of The Apes (2001)(02 of12)
Open Image Modal
This bizarre shot of an ape superimposed on the Lincoln Memorial probably tells you everything you need to know, really. (credit:20th Century Fox)
Swept Away (2002)(03 of12)
Open Image Modal
Often billed as not just one of the worst remakes, but one of the worst films ever, ‘Swept Away’ is truly a low for both Madonna and her then-husband Guy Ritchie, scooping an arguably impressive (depending on how you look it) five Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Film, Worst Screen Couple and Worst Director. (credit:Screen Gems/Everett/REX)
Alfie (2004)(04 of12)
Open Image Modal
Seriously, Jude Law. What *was* it all about? (credit:Nils Jorgensen/REX)
Annie (2014)(05 of12)
Open Image Modal
Despite an all-star cast and the backing of Jay-Z and Will Smith, ‘Annie’ was savaged by critics, with Entertainment Weekly branding the soundtrack an ‘AutoTuned disaster’, although Quvenzhané Wallis was largely praised for her performance. (credit:Columbia Pictures)
The Pink Panther (2006)(06 of12)
Open Image Modal
This remake received mostly negative reviews upon its release and was deemed a rare misfire for Steve Martin, but that didn’t stop a sequel coming out - which was, of course, panned even more. (credit:Col Pics/Everett/REX)
The Wicker Man (2006)(07 of12)
Open Image Modal
While the original film is hailed as one of the scariest horrors ever, the Nicolas Cage remake is more commonly associated with the comedy genre… though we’re not sure that’s quite what the filmmakers had in mind. (credit:Snap Stills/Rex)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)(08 of12)
Open Image Modal
A remake so irrelevant we didn’t actually realise it existed… most reviews of ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ praised the newly-updated special effects, but claimed the remake couldn’t live up to its predecessor from the 1980s. (credit:Moviestore/Rex)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)(09 of12)
Open Image Modal
Heavily criticised for relying on style over substance, reviewers praised the special effects of the film, but felt that without much of a story to hold things together, it wasn’t a worthy successor to the 1950s original. (credit:Snap Stills/Rex)
House Of Wax (2005)(10 of12)
Open Image Modal
A film best known for the ‘See Paris Die!’ campaign that preceded its releasing, referring to its star, Paris Hilton. Well, at least that was a distraction from the film itself... (credit:Warner Br/Everett/REX)
The Karate Kid (2010)(11 of12)
Open Image Modal
When even the presence of God-amongst-men Jaden Smith can’t save your film, you know you’re doomed. (credit:Col Pics/Everett/REX)
Psycho (1998)(12 of12)
Open Image Modal
Even director Gus Van Sant admitted, shortly after Psycho’s release, that the shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic had been an “experiment”, which proved that no one can copy a film in exactly the same way as the original. (credit:Universal/Everett/REX)