Starring: Mercy Johnson, Clarion Chukwurah, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Ikay Ogbonna

Synopsis:

A prostitute, under the direction of her mother, finds herself in hot water when she carries on the practice of duping men out of their money.

Review:

Vicky (Mercy Johnson) made a career of being a prostitute. Of all things, her mother taught her how to use her voluptuous body to make money. While her mother maintained her good looks and held a respectable position running a restaurant, she encouraged Vicky to screw married men for money. 

In her personal life, Vicky had feelings for Cliff (Ikay Ogbonna) but her was her mother’s young stud. While she slept with Cliff behind her mother’s back, both women were unaware that he was engaged to another. 

It seemed that every time Vicky scored some cash someone had a hand in her pocket so as she swindled money from men she was often left with peanuts. 

The grand scheme came in when Vicky’s mother suggested that Cliff (Ikay Ogbonna) hook Vicky up with the governor’s son (Paul Sambo). This would mean financial security for Vicky and government contracts for her mother. 

Cliff made the introduction happen but too bad someone else had the same idea. Blessing (Nse Ikpe-Etim) was a fired employee from the restaurant and she was making a living as a taxi driver when she began stalking the governor’s son. She managed to worm her way into his home and the two women clashed in his presence. 

Let’s talk. This movie is raunchy at its finest. It started on a low note and descended into further disarray. It didn’t waste a second letting the audience know what the movie was about although the title spelled it out clearly. 

It’s a drama that basically reflected the adage that what goes around comes around. Everyone was cheating or duping someone. There was barely a storyline and the movie was loaded with meaningless drama. 

We have a grown woman that in essence prostituted her own daughter. She was a horrible influence and the only way Vicky knew how to make money was to sleep with men.  It was a shame because her mother ran a restaurant that Vicky should have been grandfathered into.

The script lurched from one chaotic scene to the next with each dispute worse than the last. It was difficult to care for the mother/daughter duo since there wasn’t a valid reason for the path they were on. Clearly, money was a factor but the fact that a seemingly successful woman would steer her daughter down such a dangerous path was perplexing.  

The movie headed further south when it was established that Vicky knowingly slept with her mother’s boyfriend. Not that it was a serious relationship for any of them but it exemplified the lead character as a person with little to no integrity.

Interestingly enough, flawed characters are the most compelling to watch but the audience has to understand the how and why when relating to them. 

Believe it or not there was one decent thing about this movie – the acting. Mercy Johnson and Nse Ikpe-Etim blessed the movie with its one saving grace – humor. I would like to think that their participation in the movie was based on the characters more so than the story. These types of roles allow actresses to showcase their talent and needless to say the women delivered. 

“Hustlers” isn’t a top contender by any means and it’s a dismal indicator that Nollywood may be running low on ideas. EJECT