Ebony Hustle

This film essentially begins with a private investigator by the name of "Ebony Howard" (Michelle I Lamb) who is asked to investigate the disappearance of a young teenager who had recently chosen to become a follower of an extremely popular cult leader named "Caleb Truth" (Andrew Chandler). Naturally, since Caleb Truth is suspected of kidnapping this young teenager, Ebony decides to go straight to the source and investigate from within his inner circle. The problem is that Caleb Truth surrounds himself with a number of bodyguards who appear to be quite devoted to him and as such her mission is even more hazardous than she could ever realize. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film started out well enough but soon quickly devolved into one inane scene after another involving her flirtations with several men in her life. It was all quite boring. Likewise, not only were the action scenes done rather poorly but the suspense was totally inadequate as well. That said, I was somewhat disappointed with this film and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Well, granted, with the cover/poster for the 2021 crime thriller "Ebony Hustle" and the movie's synopsis, I must admit that I wasn't really expecting much of anything grand from writers John Wayne S. III, Nia Kishaye and Frank Ovelton. Yet, I opted to sit down and watch "Ebony Hustle" as I hadn't already seen it.

And just as I had expected, this movie was a bust. I certainly found no entertainment in "Ebony Hustle". The storyline was just half-hearted and felt like it was a term paper from a high school student that was made into a movie script. So no thumbs up to the writers for this one.

The acting performances in the movie were wooden and rigid at best. It was especially painstaking to watch Andrew Chandler (playing Caleb Truth) trying to act all tough and hardcore, especially when he was sort of licking his upper lip with every other sentence. And Michelle l Lamb was in the movie for a single reason, well technically two, if you catch my drift.

For a crime thriller then "Ebony Hustle" was a swing and a miss, at least in terms of script, story, acting and general entertainment value. However, I am sure that there is an audience out there somewhere for a movie such as the one director Jamezz Hampton delivered here.

This is not a movie that I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on.

My rating of Jamezz Hampton's 2021 movie "Ebony Hustle" lands on a very generous two out of ten stars.