The Hustle could be the worst movie Anne Hathaway has ever done

Anne Hathaway lacks the comic timing to work up a winning double-act in The Hustle. And it’s as though she only realised halfway through shooting just what a slight it would be to play second banana to Rebel Wilson.

Rebel Wilson.

Everyone should know where they stand with her, umm, selectively appealing brand of screen shenanigans by now.

You either get fully on board with Wilson’s casually crass and couldn’t-care-less comic stylings, or you get a ticket to something else.

The choice remains as clear cut as ever with The Hustle, a gender-flipped remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that was a major hit comedy for Steve Martin and Michael Caine over 30 years ago.

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The premise of The Hustle is powered by a zippy combo of the sophisticated and the slapstick.

(Movie buffs with long memories will quite rightfully point out Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was itself a remake of the 1964 farce Bedtime Story, starring Marlon Brando and David Niven.)

It is a curious choice of material for Wilson, who is taking on the highest-profile assignment of her career so far here.

The premise is powered by a zippy combo of the sophisticated and the slapstick, which would appear to be well outside Wilson’s, err, very refined acting range.

Nevertheless, the movie has been conspicuously kitted out as a vehicle to propel Wilson to the level of a Melissa McCarthy, for better and for worse.

Wilson plays Penny Rust, a gormless Australian con-woman pulling cheap scams on the French Riviera.

Like every other Wilson character we’ve ever seen, Penny has been blessed with no filter, no moral compass and no idea what she is doing. Oh, and she is prone to falling over. A lot.

And suddenly colliding with things. A lot.

The Hustle is clearly a vehicle to propel Wilson to the level of Melissa McCarthy.

After a short turf war with accomplished trickster Josephine Chesterfield (Anne Hathaway), Penny joins forces with her snooty frenemy to nick a few million from a young software tycoon (Alex Sharp).

Penny’s role in the ruse is to pretend she is blind. Not only to elicit sympathy from the dude whose dough she will pocket. This will also present Ms Wilson with several more opportunities to fall over, and/or collide with things.

The laughter-to-lameness ratio at work in The Hustle runs at about 40:60, with Wilson scoring most of the points on offer through sheer, self-humiliating repetition.

Conversely, Hathaway is never once at ease with her character, and lacks the comic timing required to work up a winning double-act with Wilson.

In fact, this could be the worst thing Hathaway has ever done in her relatively consistent career to date.

Anne Hathaway never seems at ease with her character and doesn’t have the comic timing to match Wilson.

It is as if the perceived slight of playing second banana to Rebel Wilson in a movie only dawned on Hathaway once shooting began. No matter what she tries — changing accents, outfits and hairdos every other scene — the shame never really goes away.

To be fair, leading man Alex Sharp does not fare much better than Hathaway.

His drab character keeps showing up whenever The Hustle is at its dumbest, or most inexplicable.

Sharp is also front and centre for two very predictable late twists, neither of which can be revealed here. The guy is like a walking, talking bad-luck charm. At least in the case of this so-so movie, which needs all the luck it can get.

THE HUSTLE (M)

Rating: Two stars (2 out of 5)

Director: Chris Addison (feature debut)

Starring: Rebel Wilson, Anne Hathaway, Alex Sharp, Ingrid Oliver.

A con not everyone will fall for

For all things movies follow Leigh on Twitter: @leighpaatsch