46 May 9 • 2019
jn

AT THE MOVIES
The Hustle stars Anne Hathaway and 
Rebel Wilson as female scam artists who 
team up, in the words of the 
publicity release, “to take 
down the dirty rotten men 
who have wronged them.” 
Tim Blake Nelson, 54, has 
a large supporting role (third 
billing) as Portnoy. But there’
s 
no details out yet about his 
role. (Opens May 10)
The words “dirty rotten” 
may ring a cinematic bell for 
you. The Hustle is a female 
re-make of two prior movies. 
You may remember Dirty 
Rotten Scoudrels, a 1988 film 
in which Steve Martin and 
Michael Caine played con 
men who team up to fleece 
a rich heiress. You probably 
don’
t know that Scoundrels 
was based on Bedtime Story, 
a 1964 movie in which 
Marlon Brando and David 
Niven were the con artists. 
The credited writers for 
Hustle include Stanley 
Shapiro (1925-1990), an 
Oscar-winning writer who 
co-wrote both Bedtime 
and Scoundrels, and Dale 
Launer, 66, who co-wrote 
Scoundrels. Launer (alone) 
wrote the great comedy My 
Cousin Vinny. The new team 
writer is Jac Schaeffer, 41, 
a woman who was hired 
to turn the funny con men 
into con women. Schaeffer’
s 
father is Jewish. 
POMS is a feel-good movie 
comedy about a woman 
(Diane Keaton) who moves 
into a retirement community 
and starts a cheerleading 
squad with her fellow resi-
dents. Cheers co-star Rhea 
Perlman, 71, plays one of 
the squad members. I hope 
this flick is not too “old-folks 
cute.” (Opens May 10) 
 
OVER ON NETFLIX 
The third and final nine-episode season 
of Easy begins May 10. It is a dramatic 

anthology series about characters whose 
stories are frequently interconnected. 
Three Jewish cast members have 
appeared in the first two seasons and 
return this season: Dave Franco, 33, who 
plays Jeff; Marc Maron, 55, who plays 
Jacob; and Aya Cash, 36, who plays 
Sherri. 
Wine Country is an 
original Netflix film that 
premieres May 10. It is a 
comedy/drama about six 
very different female friends 
who set out to sample new 
wines in the Napa Valley, 
but end up re-examining 
and re-discovering their 
decades-long friendships. 
The actresses playing the 
friends include SNL vet-
erans Maya Rudolph, 46, 
Rachel Dratch, 53, Tina 
Fey and Amy Poehler (who 
also directed). Much of the 
movie was filmed in the 
Napa Valley in California, 
and there are a lot of jokes 
about Napa, wine-tasting 
and tasting menus. Jason 
Schwartzman, 38, appears 
in one of those tasting 
scenes. 
Poehler told Wine 
Spectator magazine that 
the film is loosely based on 
an actual trip that she and 
some other women took 
to Napa. She said, “We did 
all get together for Rachel 
[Dratch]’
s birthday one year 
in wine country. We did have 
dance parties in the living 
room and have kind of teary 
conversations in the hot tub 
and go into the deep end as 
most female friendships do.”
Last March, a 50th-anni-
versary Laugh-In special was 
filmed live at a Los Angeles 
theater. The tape of the spe-
cial will premiere on Netflix 
May 14. Lily Tomlin will host 
and appear as two of her 
famous Laugh-In characters. 
Jewish stars appearing 
include Billy Crystal, 71; 
Tiffany Haddish, 39; Brad 
Garrett, 59; Jon Lovitz, 61; 
Jeff Ross, 53; Natasha Leggero, 45; 
and Michael Douglas, 74. ■

NATE BLOOM

COLUMNIST

Natasha Leggero

Dave Franco

Jason Schwartzman

Rachel Dratch

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