True Stories 45: 10s—Hustlers

Last week I pointed out that The Two Popes—a critically acclaimed film that came out in 2019—did not motivate moviegoers to show up and buy tickets. And it wasn’t for trying! The film had a big publicity campaign, was nominated for tons of awards, and was considered a very classy production. And you couldn’t ask for a better cast. It had it all—but no one went to see it.

This week we’re going to look at Hustlers—which also came out in 2019—and which everyone went to see.

So the movie with high ideals—The Two Popes—was a bust and the movie about strip clubs—Hustlers, written by Lorene Scafaria —was a big hit. Surprise?! Well, not so much, right?

But I don’t want to underestimate the cleverness, depth of characterization and high production values that made Hustlers a special film.

Take a look at a trailer.

In many respects, you could easily think that a screenwriter invented this story—seems a bit far-fetched, doesn’t it? I mean, a bunch of lap dancers banding together to drug clients so that they can charge up their credit cards? But it is a true story. Or, as the credits say, based on a true story. And most of it happened pretty much like the film portrayed.

Not only was the film based on a true story, it got that true story from an article written by a reporter in New York Magazine. This is a good example of how true stories come to the screen. Remember, of course, that once something goes to court, all of the court transcripts put the story in public domain.

Let’s say you read that story in New York Magazine, so you knew that the women involved in the scam were arrested and prosecuted. At that point, if you were interested in writing a screenplay or a novel based on that story, you could go to the court records and read the trial transcripts from the trials for each of the women arrested. That could give you the background of what actually happened in the scheme and, then, how the women came out in their trials.

But this writer didn’t do that. Instead, the writer bought the article from the journalist. Why, you might wonder. Why spend money on the article when you could go to the court transcripts and get the true story for nothing?

You can answer that by looking at how the story’s told in the film—through the eyes of the reporter. Think of how disjointed the film might be if you didn’t have the journalist as the center of the story. But you have to be careful—you don’t want the journalist to be a crutch in telling the story, you want the journalist to truly be the crux of the story.

So as you contemplate telling your own true story, don’t forget that court records put a story in public domain and anyone can tell a story from them without having to get the rights of the players in that story. But also remember that, sometimes, the way into a story can be through a journalist’s take on that story.

Next week a story that, as the credits say, was “based on an actual lie”—The Farewell.

Copyright © Diane Lake

23Apr23

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com