Hustle: Complete Season One

This 2004 British import—aired here on AMC and flogged mercilessly with lengthy commercials in movie theaters—is every bit as slick as the con artists who are its principal characters. Smart and stylish (think Ocean's Eleven without the solipsistic posturing), Hustle is a thoroughly updated, high-tech exploitation of a premise that audiences have loved since it was first trotted out in the 1916 Broadway play Cheating Cheaters: namely, likable scammers fleecing “marks” even more amoral than themselves. Hustle's head man, Mickey Bricks (Adrian Lester), employs the varied and peculiar talents of Albert Stroller (Robert Vaughn), Ash Morgan (Robert Glenister), Danny Blue (Marc Warren), and Stacie Monroe (Jaime Murray), who all operate under one inviolable rule: you can never con an honest man. So, they're pitted against greedy businessmen, casino owners, and even an ex-cop security chief (who blackmails Mickey into helping him trap a bank robber) in the six episodes of this 2004 first season. The individual storylines are cleverly developed and largely emphasize the twisty nature of flimflams, but now and then the hustlers are placed in physical danger, enhancing the suspense and allowing this personable cast some opportunities to flex its histrionic muscles. DVD extras in this two-disc collection include “Assembling the Team” (a routine behind-the-scenes featurette) and cast bios. Recommended. (E. Hulse)