The Hustled

Sixteen-year-old Cavalier "Cav" McTavish grows up in a broken home in Lawrence, Kansas, where his life collapses after his father is shot during a botched bank robbery and Cav is soon thrown out onto the streets. He finds refuge in Jasper's, a legendary action pool hall where the owner, former pro player Jasper, takes him in and teaches him not just pool but the deeper mechanics of gambling—geometry, psychology, deception, and control. Determined to stay clean despite the world around him, Cav develops into a formidable player, eventually traveling with Jasper and scoring major wins, including a big payday at Mosconi's in Philadelphia, before heading to Los Angeles. There he partners with Jimmy, a street-smart hustler who finds the action while Cav handles the table, and together they build a winning streak until a call from Brazilian gambler Fredrico offers a $200,000 freeze-out nine-ball match in Rio. The opportunity seems like easy money, but the stakehorse is Marco, a mysterious billionaire tied to Brazil's emerald trade, and the match must be played in Rio with no exceptions. With no passports and little understanding of international travel, Cav and Jimmy struggle through the visa process until Marco intervenes with powerful connections to clear their path, and what Cav believes is his biggest score yet becomes something far larger as he and Jimmy prepare to leave America for the first time—bound for Rio.

Arriving in Rio, Cav and Jimmy believe they have landed on fantasy island, dreaming of Copacabana, beautiful women and all the money they can hustle from Fredrico and his seemingly bottomless billionaire stakehorse, Marco—never realizing that the $200,000 match is actually a job interview. Marco installs them at his spectacular former Rockefeller resort, and when the match is abruptly interrupted, their fear that they have been hustled disappears when Marco personally guarantees their money “with his blood.” During a night out, Cav meets Esmeralda, a nearly six-foot international supermodel of noble lineage, and the attraction is immediate; neither understands how profoundly the other will soon change their life. After a deadly robbery at the pool hall nearly kills Cav, Jimmy, Esmeralda and her friend Gisele—and apparently takes the boys''' stake—Esmeralda warns them that Marco and his wife Marcella are cold-blooded killers and even offers to replace their $200,000 herself, but pride sends Cav and Jimmy directly back to Marco. At The Mine, headquarters of Marco'''s legitimate-looking Brazilian mining empire, Marco reveals a vault containing mountains of cash, gold, diamonds, precious metals and a multimillion-dollar emerald before honoring his guarantee and returning their money. Then comes the real proposition: Marco wants Cav and Jimmy to become his North American emerald representatives, a glamorous position concealing his highly organized cocaine-smuggling operation. Marco methodically seduces them with tailored suits, presidential Rolexes, first-class travel, cash and promises of millions, demonstrating a trafficking system protected by corrupt connections inside U.S. Customs. Greed wins. Cav and Jimmy plunge into Marco'''s world and within months are living like kings between Rio, New York, Beverly Hills and Las Vegas—mansions, models, private aircraft, exotic cars, drugs and gambling at a level that turns them into casino super-whales—until a terrorist shooting at LaGuardia leaves them trapped in an airport crawling with federal agents while carrying Marco'''s cocaine. Escaping becomes Cav'''s wake-up call from hell. At the Waldorf, he finally confronts what he has become: the millions, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce and endless parties suddenly mean nothing beside the possibility of federal prison, losing the game he devoted his life to mastering and, above all, losing Esmeralda. Cav and Jimmy abandon the drugs and criminal life, and with his mind clear for the first time in months, Cav completely rebuilds his approach to pool, discovering that he has been playing several balls beneath his true ability and emerging as a virtually unknown world-class nine-ball player. Jasper soon brings them an extraordinary opportunity: billionaire Gustave LeBlanc, owner of Monaco'''s Versailles Hotel Casino and a fanatical pool enthusiast, is offering millions for anyone willing to challenge his house champion in a globally televised match generating billions in wagering. Cav and Jimmy see the ultimate hustle. Concealing just how dramatically Cav'''s game has improved, they maneuver LeBlanc into 5-to-1 odds, putting up 50million—20 million of which they don'''t actually have—against LeBlanc'''s $250 million. Cav delivers, stunning Monaco and hustling the billionaire out of a quarter-billion dollars, but celebration lasts only moments before the Italian Cosa Nostra abducts Cav and Jimmy and orders them to lose the next match or die. Marco'''s organization intervenes, kills their captors and forcibly returns the boys to Rio, where Marco intends to reclaim control of what he considers his property. Esmeralda, terrified after learning of Cav'''s disappearance, realizes immediately who is responsible and summons her brother, Colonel Juan Bolivar of Brazil'''s Special Operations Forces. When Marco takes Cav and Jimmy outside The Mine, binds them to posts and begins brutally punishing Cav for his defiance, Esmeralda and Juan arrive. She calls Marco by the birth name he has spent years hiding; when he turns, Esmeralda fires an arrow into his chest, ending his reign. She then confronts Marcella and forces her to surrender the criminal empire'''s vast international holdings—properties, cash and accounts stretching from Panama and the Cayman Islands to Dubai and Switzerland—before Marcella ultimately takes her own life rather than face what awaits her. With Marco and Marcella gone, the people they controlled and treated as virtual slaves are finally liberated, the former empire erupts in celebration, and its workers are given money to begin new lives—while Cav, Jimmy and Esmeralda emerge from the nightmare transformed, enormously wealthy and finally free.

To the land of milk and honey the quartet travel up to scenic Corcovado for a semi celebration and a life changing shock to Esmerald. Upon arrival a playful pup races to Esmeralda and as she holds up the pup in her arms notices a note attached to its collar with her name suspicious, her eyes starting watering to good to be true. Cav kneels before her and the pup and asks her to marry him. Cav presents Fredrico with a duffel bag filled with U.S. currency—his share of the action—as Esmeralda and Gisele watch the exchange in disbelief. Turning to Cav and Jimmy, the women demand to know, “Were we the pawns in this master play?” The confrontation quickly dissolves into laughter, revealing that perhaps everyone had been hustling everyone else all along. Esmeralda gets the final laugh as she lines up the crowd for a photo opp. Esmeralda hands Cav the camera to take the photo and as everyone lines up a banner was unfurled to read “ Congratulations to Cav and Esmeralda on their new baby boy! Cav throws down the camera in the sand and they embrace in jubilation. The end.