Top 10 Best Hustlers Moments
#10: Destiny Meeting The Girls
Everything to Know Before Seeing Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
When Ramona takes Destiny under her wing, she brings her backstage at the strip club where they both work to give her a proper introduction to the other girls. The scene features pretty much everything you could want, including Lizzo freestyling on a flute, Cardi B talking about what it’s like to date a stripper, and J. Lo as Ramona squeezing another stripper’s new breast implants. It gives a behind the scenes look at what the dynamics are like between the girls and lets the viewer in on the camaraderie that exists there.
#9: The Emergency Room Scene
Top 10 Moments from The Room
During one of their scams, one of their targets ends up getting seriously injured and needs to be rushed to the hospital. To avoid any suspicion, Destiny pretends to be his wife and screams hysterically that someone needs to help him. Unfortunately, Annabelle isn’t much help because she’s vomiting and Mercedes runs off in a panic in a bikini. The fact that Ramona doesn’t answer Destiny’s calls in this dramatic moment becomes one of the major fault lines in their relationship, as Destiny has to go pick up her daughter while covered in a strange man’s blood since she had to deal with this issue all by herself.
#8: The Cardi B Lap Dance
The Best Dance Scene of Each Year (2000-2023)
Early in the movie, Ramona decides to teach Destiny some of her moves so that she can improve her stripping game. The lesson is lots of fun to watch and Jennifer Lopez’s skills are undeniable, but even more fun is when Diamond AKA Cardi B walks in and the two of them give Destiny a lesson in how to give a lap dance. Constance Wu as Destiny is appropriately awkward, but the two seasoned veterans show her how it’s done. They also teach her a sort of lap dancing mantra that is pretty NSFW and which we won’t be repeating here...
#6: Ramona Getting Caught
In one of the most visually arresting scenes in the film, Ramona walks down a New York street in a black velour Juicy sweatsuit to take money out of an ATM. The camera pans behind her as Lorde’s “Royals” plays in the background, all building to the moment where she turns around with handfuls of cash and realizes she’s surrounded by cops. When she’s in custody, she somehow manages to keep her phone, to the annoyance of the police officers. After that we see the rest of the girls being arrested as well, Mercedes being caught while leaving visiting her man in prison and Annabelle trying to escape from her apartment before vomiting (obviously).
#6: Sisters
After the financial crash, the girls have to figure out how to keep themselves afloat, so they turn to illegal means to start making bank. They begin targeting rich men and impairing their judgement with alcohol and eventually a mix of ketamine and MDMA so that they can fraud their credit cards. They work as a team, and always introduce themselves as “sisters” to the dudes they’re about to rip off. Considering they don’t exactly look alike, their ironclad explanation is that they have the same father but different mothers. Riiiiight.
#5: Ramona Inviting Destiny IntoHer Fur
After Destiny first sees Ramona dance (more on that later, trust us), she finds the more experienced stripper on the rooftop and is invited to cozy up inside Ramona’s massive fur coat. A smoke break has seriously never looked this good. Though the two have just met, they seem to have an instant connection, joking about whether or not Stevie Wonder is actually blind and the fact that Ramona was once a centerfold. This is the beginning of the friendship that comes to define the entire movie, and it’s quite a beautiful start.
#4: Ramona Talking About the Financial Crisis
After the financial crisis hits, the girls are all in pretty dire straits. Destiny never wanted to have to perform sexuall favors for money, but that’s what it comes to for her when she can’t seem to find another way to make ends meet. After a guy screws her over, she’s ready for a change, and that’s when Ramona makes her way back into her life. When the two sit down together, Ramona outlines the scam she’s running, and justifies it by talking about how none of the high powered bankers in the 2008 crash actually underwent any serious consequences for their actions.
#3: The Usher Scene
Bruce Lee's Top 10 Most Badass Moments
Before the market crashes and everything falls apart, Destiny describes one of the best nights she can remember at Moves: when Usher (who was pretty much the biggest star you could imagine in 2007) showed up at the club. All of the girls get on stage as one of his songs plays so they can dance for him, and the mood is undeniably festive. He of course approaches Ramona who oh so cooly asks him what he name is and he replies (in one of the best lines of the movie), “Usher, baby”.
#2: Ramona’s Interview with Elizabeth
The movie ends on an emotional note, with Ramona and Destiny not speaking after Destiny took a plea deal with the police. When Destiny speaks to the journalist, Elizabeth, she expresses concern about what Ramona said about her, and the audience gets to see Ramona’s interview. Ramona shows Elizabeth a childhood photo of Destiny that she keeps among her most prized possessions and talks about the affection she has for her. Based on this, Elizabeth suggests that Destiny reach out to her, but the movie ends before we get to see that actually take place. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. The Christmas Scene The Shopping Scene Destiny & Ramona's Kitchen Experiment
#1: Ramona’s Routine
What can we say about this scene that hasn’t been said already? Ramona’s strip routine to Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” is a cornerstone of the movie, and is definitely the most unforgettable moment in the film. Ramona comes out in an incredibly sexy number and delivers a jaw dropping dance that somehow comes off as empowering rather than gratuitous. Lopez trained for months to be able to pull it off, even installing stripper poles in several of her homes so she could practice as much as possible. The fact that she was FIFTY when this movie was released only makes this all the more impressive - and inspirational.
