Will Smith and Margot Robbie play con artists in their new movie Focus, out this week. Dominic Corry lists off ten of the best con artist films.
This week sees the local release of the romantic thriller Focus, in which Will Smith plays a veteran con artist who takes Margot Robbie under his wing.
Focus is a charming, breezy affair more interested in the smouldering interplay between its attractive leads than doing anything particularly innovative in the small but distinguished canon of con-artist movies.
Co-writer/directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy Stupid Love, Bad Santa) are happy to dip into the aesthetics of various con artist classics without ever really burdening themselves with the grim obligations of the form.
Will Smith and Margot Robbie star in the movie Focus. Photo / AP
It indicates an intention on their part to evoke something more in line with the modern Ocean's Eleven films, which barely qualify as con-artist films due to their ultra-cuddly nature.
Anyway, it got me thinking about the best examples of this narrow, dense, hardboiled sub-genre. Here are what I consider to the ten best con-artist films ever made.
1. House of Games (1986)
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet is the widely-recognised, shit-kicking undisputed master of the con-man movie, and House of Games is his con-man masterpiece. Lindsay Crouse plays a psychiatrist introduced into the world of low-level cons after she meets a gambler played by long-time Mamet proxy Joe Mantegna aka the voice of Fat Tony from The Simpsons. Mamet has his characters articulate the rules of the underworld he is revealing with such authority, the authenticity is emphatic. The ultimate example of the double bluff device that dominates con-man cinema - where the concept of conning itself plays a significant role in the overall con of the film - i.e the con is the con. They all do this. But Mamet did it best here.
2. The Grifters (1990)
A scene from the movie The Grifters.
It may have been slightly traumatic for film lovers weaned on the likes of Better off Dead and One Crazy Summer (i.e. me), but John Cusack moved into grown-up roles in a major way in this adaptation of the book by legendary hardboiled author Jim Thompson (The Getaway). British director Stephen Frears wrings superlative tension from the compromised interactions between Cusack and co-stars Annette Bening and Anjelica Huston, both never better. This film does an arguably better job than Mamet of creating a con-artist world with set rules.
3. The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
David Mamet's other con-man masterpiece goes even deeper into the writer's wholly constructed world, a place where everyone you meet has the potential to be lingo-spouting confidence trickster. Mamet was so committed to his aesthetic by this point, the film almost breaks free from reality entirely. Also, Steve Martin. The Spanish Prisoner is an entrancing extension of House of Games that almost manages to out Mamet-itself. The director returned to the con-man well to some degree with 2001's disappointing Heist, but applied it more successfully to the action genre with the underrated 2004 thriller Spartan.
4. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
A scene from the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Steve Martin again, only in a more comedic vein in this near flawless comedy in which he plays a burgeoning con man schooled in the art of the upper class grift by Michael Caine. Caine and Martin are so pitch perfect here it's like watching a couple of virtuosos. The only real comedy on this list - recapturing the casual elegance of this film has proved pretty much impossible.
5. The Sting (1973)
This Oscar-winning period caper remains a hugely entertaining watch, but it also appears to be the instigator of an all-too-common device employed by all too-many con-men movies - that of simply depriving the audience of information in order to build tension. The climatic tension in all three Ocean's films is derived from there being some extra part of the con/heist that the audience was not party to. We were at all the other meetings. Why weren't we there for that one? He was meant to get shot? Oh, why didn't you tell me? It seems like lazy storytelling when you see it too often. The audience isn't the mark. Robert Shaw is. The Sting gets away with it however, and remains otherwise totally awesome.
6. Nine Queens (2000)
A scene from the movie Nine Queens.
This pacy Argentinian thriller riffs heavily on the works of David Mamet, but like De Palma with Hitchcock, it's a joy to wallow in the homage. The 2004 American remake was undone by miscast leads.
7. Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Will Smith's breakout dramatic performance came as a hustler who charms his way into a rich family's home in this drama. Focus reminded me how good he was in this.
Renamed for international release to highlight its similarities to number 5 on this list, this old school boxing lark is much better than such a fate suggests. James Woods, Louis Gossett Jr and Bruce Dern make for perfectly-matched forces of nature.
9. Paper Moon (1973)
Ryan O'Neal played a low level hustler opposite his real life daughter Tatum O'Neal in this 1973 Oscar winner which I recently got around to finally seeing. It's good. Now eat your Coney Island.
10. The Brothers Bloom (2008)
A scene from the movie The Brothers Bloom.
This affectionate ode to the world of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels from director Rian Johnston (Looper, Star Wars: Episode VII) doesn't entirely succeed at all it attempts, but deserves a larger audience than the one it enjoys. Which is small.
Are you a fan of con-artist movies? What are your favourites? Does The Music Man count? Comment below!
