Jennifer Lopez knows how to make an entrance.
Indeed, throughoutHustlers, Lopez is like you’ve never seen her.
you might’t take your eyes off of her.
She’s compelling, seductive, commandingly guiding the camera and holding the audience’s attention everywhere she goes.
She’s a movie star.
And perhaps more importantly: CanHustlers?
(ThinkThe Usual Suspects.)
And that’s to say nothing of the general derision often shown toward “stripper movies.”
Lopez only benefits from the inevitable minimizing of her past screen work.
Here, at last, she goes serious and she does so brilliantly.
Lopez’s work inHustlersalso allows her to showcase some impressive physicality.
And I’d argue the field lacks a more obvious top contender than Lopez right now.
Her toughest competition looks to be Laura Dern, a scene-stealer inMarriage Story.
(Film visibility in the former’s case; screen time and dialogue… amount in the latter’s.
But perhaps the most convincing factor regarding Lopez’s Oscar chances is the success ofHustlersitself.
In its combination of box-office gross and water-cooler appeal, it’s emerging as the fall’s breakout film.
Lopez considers herself part of that narrative.
Jennifer Lopez, underdog?
Hey, she knows how to play the part.
