One of my favorite directors is teaming up with one of my favorite actresses, and all is right in the world. Jennifer Lopez is set to star in the true-life crime thriller The Hustlers, which will be written and directed by The Meddler's Lorene Scafaria. Try and stop me from smiling.
The story is based on the New York magazine article detailing the true story of "a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients. Lopez will play the ringleader of a group of ambitious women, who take their plans a bit too far. Scafaria’s script takes place in the late aughts in New York City in the wake of the financial crisis, and explores the toll it took on the livelihood of the dancers who relied on their Wall Street clientele. The story will also focus on themes of identity, loyalty, survival and control."
Sounds like a potentially gritty, street-level crime movie, but that's not necessarily what I would expect from Scafaria. She had a terrific breakthrough writing the charming script for Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, then made her directorial debut with the underrated (and my favorite movie of that year) Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. She most recently directed the mother/daughter comedy, The Meddler, which is also pretty good.
Lopez has been in need of a big screen comeback for a while now. It's not like she ever really slowed down or anything, but it's been a long time since she had a truly great acting vehicle, and hopefully this will be it. She can be seen now on the final season of NBC's cop series Shades of Blue. She also has the romantic comedy Second Act due out in November.
Scafaria knows how awesome Lopez can be given the right material, and had this to say about her leading lady...
“The film is an empathetic look at women and men, our gender roles, what we’re valued for, what we’ve been told is our value in every movie, TV show, every corner of culture. Men have been told they’re worth the size of their bank accounts. Women have been told they’re worth the symmetry of their faces, their bodies, their beauty and that’s what this film is based on. The rules of the club are the rules of the world. There is no other actor who could embody this raw and dynamic character with such complexity, humanity and intelligence. It’s always been her. She’s fucking Jennifer Lopez.” [Collider]
