By Chris Kavan - 09/11/19 at 11:55 PM CT
It was certainly a good weekend last week for It: Chapter 2 as the sequel to the R-rated blockbuster came in right in line with high expectations and gave the fall a much-needed boost after a kind of disappointing end-of-summer box office. Pennywise and the Losers Club is about to be joined by some Hustlers - that is, a group of women who use their assets to stick it to the man - and make some major money - until things all come crashing down. There is also The Goldfinch, an overly dramatic drama that has been getting savaged by critics. We'll see if horror trumps strippers this weekend.
HUSTLERS What happens when you have a certain set of skills and need to use them to get back at the people who have wronged you? No - Liam Neeson is not in this film - but Jennifer Lopez is, and, according to more than a few critics, this may be her best performance to date. Lopez plays a one-time stripper who gets a bunch of other former strippers together in order to get back at the fat-cat men who have gotten rich while much of the country is struggling thanks to things like predatory lending, toxic stocks and debt-inducing loans. Think of it as all those guys in Wolf of Wall Street getting one-upped by some savvy women. Lopez is joined by a red-hot cast including Constance Wu, Lili Reinhart, Cardi B, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Madeline Brewer and Lizzo. All these women have been impacted by the economic downturn and it doesn't take much pushing for them to realize these men are easy marks - and things go well for awhile, but all that money eventually makes them a bit over-confident and the law eventually comes knocking. Based on a bombshell story in New York Magazine, the film seems like it should be a hit with women, given the current climate, and could even garner some awards-season love, maybe. If any film is going to knock out a psychotic clown, gallons of blood and creepy red balloons - this has the best shot.
While The Goldfinch is based on a highly-acclaimed novel from Donna Tartt and boasts an impressive cast - Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, Ansel Elgort, Finn Wolfhard, Luke Wilson, Denis O'Hare, Jeffrey Wright, Willa Fitzgerald, Ashleigh Cummings and Oakes Fegley among them - critics have been unimpressed with this drama - a lifeless, dull melodrama that squanders its source material. What should be an odyssey of guilt and redemption is rendered inert by the director - John Crowley - and writer Peter Straughan, and not even a talented cast seems to be able to rescue this one. This is exactly the type of awards season bait that critics usually lap up, but they aren't fooled this time and I'm guessing general audiences aren't going to rush out to see such slow-moving, emotionally-deep, yet ultimately empty piece of cinema. It might crack the top five, but only because of lack of competition if it does.
The box office was bailed out by It: Chapter 2. We'll see if Hustlers can come close to toppling fear incarnate. I'll be back on Sunday with the breakdown.
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