|
Actors: John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening, J.T. Walsh
|
|
| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Grifters |
|---|
A brilliant modern day film noir provng the versatility of Stephen Frars after Dangerous Liaisons. This concerns the non-glamourous side of America, where con men forsake the American Dream of "its' off to work we go" in favour of making a buck illegitimately.
Cusack is the small time grifter, earning bucks by tricking sailors and bar low-lifes. On his arm is Bening, who once sampled success as a scam operator and is desperate to wach those heights again. Most fascinating is Huston as Cusack's mother, perpetrating a playback scam for the Mob at the racetracks of America.
--Mike Tomlinson, Resident Scholar
|
Lilly Dillon (Huston), a 38-year-old con artist who works a scam at horse tracks across the U.S. for a powerful bookie (but is also skimming big money from her boss), is in LA for a job when she runs into the son she bore at age 14 and abandoned. Roy Dillon (Cusack) is a much smaller time grifter (con artist) with a hot girlfriend named Myra Langtry (Bening), who turns out to have a con history all her own. When Roy is hospitalized after botching a con and getting beat up, Lilly finds she still has feelings for the boy, tries to help him out and warn him off Myra (neither of which he goes for), and ends up flubbing her current job as well. Soon the mob is after her as she tries to make it right with her alienated boy. The screenplay by veteran novelist Donald Westlake, based on a Jim Thompson book, is gritty, smart, and a real downer, but excellently acted and sharply directed by Stephen Frears, who was doing his first American movie after "My Beautiful Laundrette," "Sammie and Rosie Get Laid," and "Prick Up Your Ears."
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
|
| Analysis of The Grifters |
|---|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 45%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 35%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1980's-1999
Crime & Police Story?
Yes
Crime story:
- white collar fraud/theft
Blackmail & Seduction
Yes
Criminal enemy is...
- thief/con-artist
If this is a criminal POV story...
- criminals stealing from other criminals
- criminals killing each other
- white collar fraud/con man
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
- criminal
Age:
- 20's-30's
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- irritated
- cynical
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
- white/grey
Hair style
- (woman) short/butch/lez
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn, straight
Body type
- very skinny (woman)
How much in movie?
- 60%
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
- a criminal organization
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 80%
Hair color
- blonde
Hair type
- (woman) short/butch/lez
Body type
- skinny (woman)
unclothed?
- full frontal
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
- dangerous
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
- moving train
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately messy visuals of dead
- gory visuals of deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
- in awe
How many deaths in film?
- 2
- 3-4
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- seeing breasts
- seeing nude female butt
- seeing full frontal--women
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 1 (None)
Kind of violence:
- hand to hand
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Orchestra/classical
Is this movie based on a
- book
|
| Most similar reviews by Gordonator ranking |
|---|
| Heist
starring Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Rebecca Pidgeon, Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell, Ricky Jay
|
| Foolproof
starring Ryan Reynolds, Kristin Booth, David Suchet, Joris Jarsky
|
| Confidence
starring Ed Burns, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia
|
| Handgun
starring Treat Williams, Paul Schulze, Seymour Cassel
|
| Miami Blues
starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Fred Ward, Alec Baldwin
|
|
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
|
