THE Thick of It and Mock the Week star Chris Addison hits Hollywood this week as director of gender swapped Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake The Hustle.

Rebel Wilson leads the film as Penny Rust, a small time and essentially hapless Aussie con artist who finds herself trained for the big time by glamorous femme fatal Josephine Chesterfield, a Brit hustler played by Anne Hathaway. Once united, these sisters in crime embark on a mission to take down the men who have wronged them in a series of high stakes heists. Tim Blake Nelson and Alex Sharp co-star as Wilson and Hathaway’s dirty rotten compatriots and there’s room too for Doctor Who star Ingrid Oliver as Inspector Desjardins.

Those who might baulk at the idea of remaking Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - a classic by all accounts - would do well to remember that the Frank Oz film was itself a remake of 1964’s Bedtime Story. As for the gender switching, that’s common these days. Indeed, The Hustle is the second film in which Anne Hathaway has played a crook in a caper remake of a previously male-dominated movie within the space of twelve months.

Hathaway’s comedic capabilities are often overlooked in the face of her Oscar winning dramatic work but shine here. Wilson is a natural too, of course, and it’s happy news to find the pair bouncing together here so well. ‘Why are women better suited to the con than men?’ Says Hathaway. ‘Because we’re used to faking it?’ Replies Wilson. A joy for fans of each.

Also out this week, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu capitalises on the recent rebirth of the popular Japanese gaming franchise with a live-action feature from Goosebumps director Rob Letterman.

Ryan Reynolds voices Pikachu, lending his face also for motion capture simulation, who is here a self-proclaimed detective on a mission. When former Pokémon trainer Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) discovers he has the unique ability to speak to Pikachu, the pair team up for a case like no other. One that will threaten the very existence of Pokémon everywhere.

General critical warmth and studio optimism have seen a sequel commissioned already for the film, which finds smaller roles for Ken Watanabe and Bill Nighy. The plot might be nothing to write home about but there’s energy and action enough to keep the boat sailing well enough. It’s fun.