Grifters and Con Men
January 9th, 2003 at 6:51 pm (Film Theory)
Grifter movies such as David Mamet’s House of Games (1987), Stephen Frears‘ The Grifters (1990), Ocean’s Eleven (2001) or Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects have long held a special interest for me. I am not sure why this is, but I suspect it is because the roles in these movies require strong acting, intelligent editing, and, most importantly, top-notch acting.
An effective story about a confidence game has to be able to dupe the audience into the con being perpetrated on screen. The thrill in the movie comes from paying close attention to nuance as you play the game along with the characters. Good thrillers have that moment of revelation when all the pieces start to come together, all the clues are put into play, and all the secrets are revealed. Part of the joy of a con movie is that you
When I stop to think about it, the real interest in con movies is probably born more from my love of sociology and psychology than from anything else. I love to learn and think about how people think and react. I love the idea of a mind trick, especially one that is sophisticated enough to dupe a sharp individual. Grifters are nothing if not top notch, on-the-stop sociologists. They learn how to size a mark up, make a guess as to what makes the person tick, figure out how that person will react to different stimuli, and then choose to put on some act carefully selected to elicit the proper response. The magic behind a confidence game is that people
A great con movie is written as a treatise on the human condition. The story betrays the games we all play with each other and with ourselves as we fool our minds into belonging to a more appealing reality than the one we face. To do justice to the subject, the writing and the acting both have to be top notch.
A list of movies about cons:
House of Games (1987) - David Mamet is the undisputed master of the Con. This is probably my favorite movie on the subject, though I may be biased by this probably having been the first real con movie I ever saw, and it having been filmed in an area of Seattle familiar to me.
The Spanish Prisoner (1997) - Probably Mamet’s best known con movie, but not his best work by far.
Wag the Dog (1997) - Co-written by Mamet, this is a great comedy about a con pulled on the American public by their government.
The Grifters (1990) - Probably my second favorite movie in this genre. Angelica Huston plays a character stronger than any I have seen on screen for a while since.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001) - Not subtle nor very intelligent, but very amusing and it did have a great ‘oh my god, that is what has been going on all this time’ plot twist.
The Usual Suspects (1995) - One of the best movies of the 90s. Strong writing and a strong cast.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) - Not your typical thriller, but a good comedy that makes fun of the con game as well as of the con film genre.
Memento (2000) - Who is trying to fool whom into doing what? Great movie, worth seeing twice just to try to figure out what is going on.
L.A. Confidential (1997) - Oddly enough I did not like this movie very much. It bears mention though as it does have all the elements of “here are the clues, now you figure out what is going on.”
The Shawshank Redemption, (1994) - A masterful movie. On my list of The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen.
Bound (1996) - Who’s fooling whom? Watch to the end to find out.
Catch Me If You Can (2002) - The movie that got me thinking about this genre again. A very well made film about a professional forger and confidence artist. Worth the price of admission.
What other movies should be on the list? Please post your additions and your comments!
Mari said,
January 11, 2003 at 12:17 pm
I love movies like Oceans Eleven because I love to analyze the con game itself and try to find weak spots in it. I also like them for the same thrill of revelation that is talked about.
Sadly, I haven’t seen most of the movies listed, but I have seen movies that have twist endings that almost qualify, but not quite.
Suicide Kings is one of my favorites, you can find it in the Sundance section at Blockbuster.
Bandits is another fun movie, but it is not one that you have to “figure out”, per se. The con in the movie, while not airtight, is interesting and you wish that it really could happen. I also like it cause parts of it were filmed in the Portland, OR area.
Flava said,
January 13, 2003 at 2:50 pm
Bandits did not appeal to me as much as it did to others. It was quirky and “lightly peppered” with humour, but I couldn’t figure out the point. It wasn’t plot driven enough to be a suspence, or funny enough to be a comedy. Huh, oh well.
christer osterling said,
February 7, 2003 at 9:14 am
How can you forget The Sting? The greatest con movie ever!
Leopoldo said,
February 7, 2003 at 12:28 pm
You know, I don’t think I have ever seen ‘The Sting’. I have had it recommended to me enough times that I really should find a copy of it.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0070735
Jason said,
June 9, 2003 at 8:25 pm
Another MAJOR omission is “Nine Queens” (or, in its original translation, “Nueve Reinas”). This Argentinian movie is an incredible con movie that ranks up there with The Sting and House of Games.
For the purpose of keeping your list comprehensive, David Mamet’s “Heist” should be added, as should James Foley’s very recent “Confidence”
Leopoldo said,
June 11, 2003 at 12:54 pm
Wow, thank you Jason. I had not heard of Nine Queens before, it looks quite good. I just put a request in with my library to get it on DVD; I look forward to seeing it.
I had avoided “Heist”. Much prefer Mamet’s earlier movies. His later work (included Heist) looked more like rehashing old themes than innovative filmmaking.
Confidence I had not even heard of before. Just made it to my ‘to-watch’ list. Once again, thank you for the recommendations
.
Leopoldo said,
November 25, 2003 at 1:06 pm
A review of Nine Queens is up at:
Film Roar: Nueve Reinas (2000)
xLiquid said,
January 12, 2004 at 10:34 am
I would also recommend, “The Prime Gig” I rented the movie blind, and was not dissappointed. Ed Harris, Vince Vaughn. Let me know what YOU think.
chris said,
February 5, 2004 at 4:41 pm
Nice article, exactly what I was looking for. I love this sub genre of movies, especially right after seeing Matchstick Men, which I really really liked.
I also dug confidence, but 9Queens is really up there with movies that no one is talking about but has to see.
Leopoldo said,
February 5, 2004 at 4:55 pm
Glad you liked it
I just watched another movie for the list “The Italian Job (2003)”. A review should go up on GeekRoar.com soon.
Leopoldo said,
February 12, 2004 at 9:03 am
I just added a review for another good con (actually more of a Heist) movie at Film Roar: The Italian Job (2003)
FilmRoar » Blog Archive » The Long Good Friday (1980) said,
April 4, 2006 at 1:12 pm
[…] The script is engaging, the dialogue fresh and the story intriguing. I found myself wanting to figure out what was really happening from the beginning of the film to the conclusion. The tension is established from the opening scene and the clues dolled out equally to the audience and to the characters making a real connection between the two. The movie represents a departure from style of 50s and 60s Noir and 70s action, building on these genres and establishing new grounds that will give foundation for the Grifter and Con movies that followed in the 80s and 90s. For that reason alone The Long Good Friday should be watched by those interested in film history and genre theory. […]