9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Truly Entertaining Film, July 20, 2003
By A Customer
Underseen in theaters due to an underwhelming marketing campaign and the limited draw of Edward Burns, this film is loads of fun and very unpredictable. Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia are both the best they've been in years and the last twist blew me away. If you are a fan of The Sting, you'll love this film.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
coming in under the radar, August 22, 2003
Well - excellent movie, clever plot, clever dialogues, great performances ( Dustin Hoffman (cast against type) is interestingly creepy, Rachel Weisz is pure "bait with brains" and Edward Burns (not really my favourite actor) comes over with a surprisingly great amount of suave confidence... as for the supporting cast - as good as the leads, Andy Garcia takes the cake, though ), moody soundtrack, and - just for once - in this almost "sucked-dry" genre of 'Heist' and 'Sting' movies, an unpredictable ending..... and while it skips over some of the the less interesting details of the sting's setup and planning (like some forgeries etc ), the story stays sound - especially through Burn's comments from off-screen filling in details, attitude and superstitions. It compares very well to "Oceans Eleven" but is less swinging, ironic and hip, much grittier with ugly stains showing through the gloss, and somewhat less certainty about the outcome.
As for the story - a group of conficence men pull off the wrong guy, or rather they con him out of the wrong money. Now, in debt to a local mobster (Hofmann ), they agree to trick an old enemy of said mobster out of several million bucks - and doing this with crooked cops, irritated gangsters and federal agents on their tail. Sounds simple, but like all good sting stories it has a cartload of double-dealing, backstabbing and corrupting gears busily shifting and turning. Rather surprisingly for a contemporary gangster/crime story the violence, while definitely there, is neither overwhelming nor sickeningly self-serving, the camera-work is hands on, and for once the world is at its most dangerous when it looks glossy, stylish and neat.
Of course everyone missed it on the big screen while watching the Hulk, Tomb Raider 2 and Charlies Angles : FT and cussing - go figure.
Just like the perfect con - you don't notice its excellence until it's over. Now wisen up guys and at least get the DVD. No regrets - trust me on this.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Conning itself., September 30, 2003
Flat headed heist movie that lacks the goods to con itself. Ed Burns does have the chops to pull off his character well, but he comes up short next to his fellow actors, and a very bad script. Dustin Hoffman is great for the very small time that he is in it. And Rachel Weisz outdoes them both with a great performance that the screenplay does not even try to capitalize. Doug Jung's script is really not a script at all but a series of blatantly rip off material from better con films, and a poorly done rip off at that. The DVD itself is better than the movie, and that's because you can see how bad the screenwriter had dropped the ball with this film.
See it for Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz and Ed Burns's performances, but don't expect a coherent plot.
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