It's a movie about criminals. So; you can't trust 'em.
In a pretty formulaic buddy match-up; an experienced world-weary cynical grifter finds himself an amateurish young trainee. Richard (the elder) is played by J C Reilly, who is blessed with the sort of unmemorable features that make him ill-fitted as a movie lead, yet perhaps ideally-suited for the profession his character represents. He's not quite the criminal big-wheel he fancies himself to be. Rodrigo, the ill-fitting Hispanic rookie is played by Diego Cumo. He's a punk, a loser. Or so it seems.
As the movie progresses, we gain some insight into the ruthless mentality of Richard, both by his actions and his confessions. He's not particularly likable. But then neither is Rodrigo, who is evidently smarter than he looks.
You can see that this is gonna be a twist-in-the-tail story. The question is, simply: how? In fact, there are several little twists that develop in a rapidly tightening plot. Eventually, I was left wondering - was this gonna be a bloody-awful-shock type ending, or an ironic, humorous morality tail. You can find out for yourselves.
Most of what you see has been done before. 'Grifters' is the ultimate hard-edged bloody-awful-shocker, whereas 'The Sting' is probably the most memorable tongue-in-cheek morality scenario. In between there are others - 'Ocean's' several, 'The Score' and of course, this.
Don't buy into the detractors too heavily; they may be selling you short. The technical issues of camera-work and sound score, editing etc, are all up to snuff. The players give good turns and the script is more-or-less believable. Watch it without a wallet filled with expectations and you shouldn't come away feeling fleeced.
In a pretty formulaic buddy match-up; an experienced world-weary cynical grifter finds himself an amateurish young trainee. Richard (the elder) is played by J C Reilly, who is blessed with the sort of unmemorable features that make him ill-fitted as a movie lead, yet perhaps ideally-suited for the profession his character represents. He's not quite the criminal big-wheel he fancies himself to be. Rodrigo, the ill-fitting Hispanic rookie is played by Diego Cumo. He's a punk, a loser. Or so it seems.
As the movie progresses, we gain some insight into the ruthless mentality of Richard, both by his actions and his confessions. He's not particularly likable. But then neither is Rodrigo, who is evidently smarter than he looks.
You can see that this is gonna be a twist-in-the-tail story. The question is, simply: how? In fact, there are several little twists that develop in a rapidly tightening plot. Eventually, I was left wondering - was this gonna be a bloody-awful-shock type ending, or an ironic, humorous morality tail. You can find out for yourselves.
Most of what you see has been done before. 'Grifters' is the ultimate hard-edged bloody-awful-shocker, whereas 'The Sting' is probably the most memorable tongue-in-cheek morality scenario. In between there are others - 'Ocean's' several, 'The Score' and of course, this.
Don't buy into the detractors too heavily; they may be selling you short. The technical issues of camera-work and sound score, editing etc, are all up to snuff. The players give good turns and the script is more-or-less believable. Watch it without a wallet filled with expectations and you shouldn't come away feeling fleeced.