Hustle

Director Robert Aldrich (The Longest Yard) re-unites with Burt Reynolds for this hard-edged neo-noir. Lieutenant Phil Gaines (Reynolds) is a cynical Los Angeles police detective amorously involved with an icewater-veined Parisian call girl, Nicole Britton (Catherine Deneuve). On the job, he begins ...more

Never one to practice restraint, director Robert Aldrich paints a sometimes overwhelmingly disturbing portrait of America in Hustle. Aldrich's work is undeniably powerful and his ability to vividly paint a world of unstoppable moral corrosion is impossible to dismiss. At the same time, the director's obsessiveness is uncomfortable and, at times, he simply tries too hard. There's not enough substance in the basically noir-ish screenplay to handle all that Aldrich imposes upon it. As a result, ...more