Girl Week 2019: The Quick and Dirties

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We've finally reached the last day of Girl Week 2019. To wrap it up, we're going quick & dirty and talking about a number of movies, with a little help from super-reader Joel. Here we go.

Hustlers

Directed by Lorene Scafaria

2019. Rated R, 110 minutes.

Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Cardi B, Lizzo, Mercedes Ruehl, Wai Ching Ho, Trace Lysette

A group of strippers are raking in the dough until the economic crash of 2008. A few years later, they are no longer stripping, and struggling to make ends meet. Destiny (Wu) does go back into the clubs and has a chance reunion with Ramona (Lopez). The two come up with a way to swindle men out of as much money as their credit cards will allow. They recruit other girls to help. Things go fine, until their methods get increasingly more dangerous. This is based on inspired by a true story. The first thing I noticed is the lack of the male gaze, which makes sense given that this is directed by a woman. In a movie set largely in strip clubs, this has its advantages and disadvantages. Realism suffers a bit because nobody strips, at least among the principal class. They all escape the stage, and the movie, with their outfits full intact. Any nudity is reserved for extras in the background. I can accept that my issues here could just be the frustration my inner-perv speaking up, but it feels laughable since we get a full length routine from J-Lo, and a number of lap dance sequences featuring various cast members. This lack of realism extends to the presence of budding music superstar Lizzo. She represents a great bit of body positivity for the audience, but unless I'm mistaken, it just didn't exist in upscale strip joints in the mid-2000s. She's not hired in that club, at that time. On the other hand, all of this enhances the stylized world created by the film where the women eagerly seize control of their surroundings and their fate. So, in that sense, not having a constant parade of naked bodies is absolutely the right choice. Story-wise, the movie draws you in through Destiny's humanity. Constance Wu's performance elicits our empathy and keeps us vested in her fate. Unfortunately, she's alone in that department. All of the other characters are flat-drawn, and in some cases, barely in the movie. Only J-Lo gets enough screen time to bring anything to her role. She gives us her trademark charisma. However, whether or not that works depends on how you already feel about her. It works for me. However, the lack of an arc for her character means the emotional ending the movie goes for doesn't quite land. It's a very good, highly watchable movie, but never reaches greatness. - Dell

Three Secrets

Directed by Robert Wise.

1950. Not Rated, 98 minutes.

Cast: Eleanor Parker, Patricia Neal, Ruth Roman, Frank Lovejoy, Leif Erickson, Ted De Corsia, Edmon Ryan, Larry Keating, Katherine Warren

When a private plane crashes in the remote California Mountains the only survivor is a 5-year-old boy. The wreckage is in a tenuous location and as a rescue team attempts to make their way to extricate the child word spreads that he had been adopted at birth from a certain orphanage. As a media frenzy ensues the three possible mothers, housewife Susan Chase (Eleanor Parker), newspaper reporter Phyllis Horn (Patricia Neal) and ex-con Ann Lawrence (Ruth Roman), gather at the mountain base to discover the truth, drawing on their strength to endure the ordeal of wondering “Could that be my boy?” The audience spends approximately the next hour and a half via flashback weeding though the secrets, lies and circumstances that led the trio into giving up their babies. Solid drama with three excellent lead performances was directed by Robert Wise of West Side Story, The Sound of Music and many others fame. - Joel

The Kitchen

Directed by Andrea Berloff

2019. Rated R, 103 minutes.

Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elizabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, Margo Martindale, James Badge Dale, Common, Bill Camp

After their husbands are arrested and sent to jail, three women are told by the crime family their men belonged to that they would be taken care of. When the money they are given is not enough to sustain their households, Kathy (McCarthy), Ruby (Haddish), and Claire (Moss) decide to form their own little family and take over the streets. I love the premise. Unfortunately, the execution of it is terrible. Everything happens way too easily for our heroines. Everything these women do happens quickly, with little to no resistance. When their takeover happens I literally said to my wife, "We're here, already?" It gives the main characters a sheen of invincibility that undermines the film. Only one of the three really seem to be dealing with real stakes. Things fall apart quickly. How things are achieved is haphazardly shoved in at the last minute. The conclusion is anticlimactic. There are way too many points in the film that need fleshing out. The cast gives it the old college try. McCarthy and Moss fare best and give us something to grab onto. Haddish scowls her way through the movie. It's not quite authentic because being a black woman married to an Irish mobster in 1970s New York makes her character more dependent on a sufficient backstory. The movie tries, but fails to give it to her. This is particularly damaging given how important Ruby is to the plot. The biggest disappointment of The Kitchen is that it really could be a great film. As it stands, it feels like the first draft of one. - Dell

Day 6 Entries

1001Plus: Graduation Day (Booksmart review)

Movies and Songs 365: 90s Female Buddy Movies

Dell on Movies: 10 Gorgeous Movies Shot by Women