The nobody-saw-this-coming ending elevates an entertaining film into a thoughtful one. AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Sandie Angulo Chen, Marina Antunes, Nikki Baughan, Betsy Bozdech, … Some of our favorites stars share the women's stories that they turn to for inspiration and motivation during Women's History Month and beyond. In `The Sting', however, George Roy Hill deliberately sets out to create a very different mood. Johnny Hooker, a small time grifter, unknowingly steals from Doyle Lonnegan, a big time crime boss, when he pulls a standard street con. He decides that the best way is to hurt Lonnegan's pride by relieving him of some of his wealth. Regardless of genre, it seems there's nothing this actress can't do. A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue. Film Review: Enforcement Is a Tense and Chilling Survival-of-the-Fittest Parable. If these titles were about superheroes I'd watch... Any recommendations for movies similar to "The Sting"? AEW Revolution note: The Team Taz-Darby Allin/Sting street fight was filmed ahead of time and is said to be a massive success (1/3) — Justin Barrasso (@JustinBarrasso) March 7, 2021 Part of the fun of "American Hustle" is that it keeps us constantly on our toes wondering who's scamming whom.Â. He's a criminal, too: He's on the take and coaxes more powerful politicians to join him, all in the name of rejuvenating Atlantic City. With Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, Teri Garr, Karl Malden. To win, Hooker and Gondorff will need all their skills...and a fair amount of confidence. Was this review helpful to you? The acting is heavily stylised (as is the scenery), and the division of the film into sections with titles such as `The Hook' or `The Line' is reminiscent of the formal division of a stage play into acts and scenes. Title: Moxie Directors: Amy Poehler Release Date: March 3, 2021 Running Time: 111 minutes Language: English Screenwriters: Tamara Chestna and Dylan Meyer, based on the novel by Jennifer Mathieu Distribution Company: Netflix Trailer. Irving and Sydney quickly become partners in crime and love—but wait. Official Website. The script’s first misdirection move consists in getting us laughing. A laid back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform. Drishyam 2 Review: Mohanlal is flawless yet again as the husband/father who will stake his all to keep the police at bay. The stakes are high in this game, and our heroes must not only deal with Lonnegan's murderous tendencies, but also other side players who want a piece of the action. Film Review: The Fever Is an Evocative, Ambiguous Tale of Amazonian Heartache. It's Sydney's idea to don a fake accent and take on the alter ego of the posh Lady Edith, a Londoner with elite banking connections—and in doing so, she kicks Rosenfeld's cons into high gear. Comedy. He revels in their quirks and foibles. Richie exposes the lovers' scheme and forces them to help him net even bigger fish to get themselves out of trouble. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks. After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in. Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con. Find the latest movie reviews from Empire, the world’s biggest movie destination. There are also good contributions from Charles Durning as the corrupt policement Lieutenant Snyder and Robert Earl Jones as Luther.Despite the cheerful mood, the film has serious undertones in keeping with its themes of revenge and murder. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here. The film is not in black-and-white but in bright colour, and the mood, far from being heavy and brooding, is light and cheerful. A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound. Yet Renner makes us feel this gregarious family man's generosity, and the bromance that forms between him and Bale's character is actually sweet. It showed a true survival instinct. The emotional satisfaction we feel at the end of the film is because a sort of moral order has finally been restored and, moreover, because this has been done without anyone getting injured except Lonnegan's wallet. ‘Mass’ Review: A Charged Meditation on the Aftermath of a School Shooting The parents of the shooter meet the parents of a victim in a talk-therapy drama that packs a truthful punch. Her complexity and unpredictability make her fascinating to watch—she's just unhinged enough to think she's the voice of reason—and Lawrence is a radiant scene-stealer. In 2005 The National Film Registry started by The Library of Congress in 1988 to preserve films that are " historically, culturally and aesthetically significant," put "The Sting… The plot unfolds with great ingenuity; until the final denouement the audience are never quite sure which developments are for real and which are part of the elaborate scheme.Crime thrillers set during this period are normally associated with the classic `film noir' style, with its dark, brooding, cynical atmosphere. But he also finds himself falling for the sexy Sydney—er, Lady Edith—and she may feel the same way. With her fake tan, high hair and vicious nails, Rosalyn is a force of nature. She knows just enough to be dangerous, which may make her an even bigger threat to Irving and Sydney than the federal authorities who are closing in on their operation. Also, the scenes of mob chaos are filmed with not the kind of incautious incendiarism that these scenes required. The song, "Strange Fruit," first recorded in 1939, got Billie Holiday in trouble. Their solution - escape to Bolivia. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. The story of T.E. The police are hopelessly corrupt- Snyder, the one representative we see of the forces of law and order, is on Lonnegan's payroll. Unfortunately, her story is saddled with the mediocre effort that is The United States vs Billie Holiday.Instead of digging into her talents and her tragedy, it’s content to exist on the surface level. Co-written with Eric Singer, Russell's latest is based on the Abscam sting operation of the late '70s and early '80s, in which a con artist helped the FBI catch members of Congress taking bribes. Scott Joplin's music, although written slightly earlier than the period in which the film is set, fits this mood perfectly. Title: A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies. Directed by Jeremy Kagan. `The Sting', however, is different. Land is an effective film, emotionally resonant without pushing manipulative buttons, a spare but beautiful meditation on grief and companionship. You can find Christy's writing at ChristyLemire.com. 86 of 114 people found this review helpful. Hooker wants to use Gondorff's expertise to take Lonnegan for an enormous sum of money to even the score, since he admits he "doesn't know enough about killing to kill him." Christy Lemire is a co-host of the YouTube film review show "What the Flick?!" Directed by George Roy Hill. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? They devise a complicated scheme and amass a talented group of other con artists who want their share of the reparations. Hammer’s driven performance helps, but the film’s attempt to motivate Jake by giving him an addicted sister (Lily Rose-Depp) feels artificial. "The Sting" was a big hit at the box-office also, in The Top 100 Box-Office Champions of All Time ,(adjusted for inflation as of 2020.) Sure, it looks like the cast went nuts at a Goodwill store and splurged on the grooviest duds they could find for an elaborate game of dress-up, but the clothes more than just a kitschy source of laughs: they're a reflection of their characters' ambition, a projection of their glittering notions of the American dream. A team of cons is planning a new scam involving betting on a boxing match but one of its past victims aims to exact revenge by eliminating the whole group. 9/10. The film is probably also a tad overlong, but it's a blast to hang out with these people, and Russell creates such an infectiously zany vibe around them that if even you notice the running time, you probably won't mind. This director has always has shown a fondness for characters who are on the brink of imploding or exploding, and with "American Hustle" he's assembled his own posse of stars from his last two films to serve as his personal acting troupe: Christian Bale and Amy Adams from 2011's "The Fighter" and Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence from "Silver Linings Playbook." Hooker wants to use Gondorff's expertise to take Lonnegan for an enormous sum of money to even the score, since he admits he "doesn't know enough about killing to kill him." Land is in theaters from February 12. She's also on Twitter @christylemire and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/christy.lemire2. The College Admissions Scandal,” director Chris Smith uses a documentary/dramatic hybrid to examine the sting … The mom investigation is … It fails to thrill or surprise, its turns visible miles away. (While all the choices from costume designer Michael Wilkinson are spot-on in their tacky period allure, Adams' ensembles are to-die-for: a plunging and sparkling array of sexy little numbers that help the actress assert her untapped va-va-voominess.)Â. They devise a complicated scheme and amass a talented group of other con artists who want their share of the reparations. Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees." They seemed to have an awful lot of overhead for a half million payout. Cooper's Richie DiMaso is a hotheaded (and tightly permed) FBI agent who's eager to make a name for himself with a big bust. Johnny Hooker, a small time grifter, unknowingly steals from Doyle Lonnegan, a big time crime boss, when he pulls a standard street con. View production, box office, & company info. He joins forces with another con man named Henry Gondorff, and together they come up with an elaborate plan, not only to cheat Lonnegan, but also to do it in such a way that he never realises that he has been cheated. Legendary jazz musician Billie Holiday is an icon worthy of a truly excellent biopic. The sting scenario is handled sufficiently, though in a paint-by-numbers fashion. An excellent film, which well deserved its Academy Award. "American Hustle" is actually a more thrilling and satisfying experience than Scorsese's latest, the upcoming "The Wolf of Wall Street," which similarly was inspired by the true story of an irrepressible financial huckster. The lyrics by Abel Meeropol are not subtle: "Southern trees bear a strange fruit. Lonnegan demands satisfaction for the insult. Take a look ahead at all the major movie releases coming to theaters and streaming this season. Lonnegan demands satisfaction for the insult. Or does she? Where the police are crooked, only the criminals can execute justice. The major actors all play their parts perfectly- Robert Shaw as the glowering, menacing Lonnegan, Robert Redford as the young, idealistic Hooker (insofar as a con-man can be said to be an idealist), and Paul Newman as the older, more experienced and laid-back Gondorff. It's kind of adorable.) Written by Crime, Certificate: Passed Hooker and Gondorff live in a world where the moral order has broken down. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid are the leaders of a band of outlaws. After his partner, Luther, is killed, Hooker flees, and seeks the help of Henry Gondorff, one of Luther's contacts, who is a master of the long con. Discover Empire's take on the latest cinema, Blu-ray and DVD releases. I am not usually a great admirer of what are known as `heist' or `caper' movies, as I feel that too often they glamourise crime and dishonesty. FILM DETAILS:. headlessannie. There is no chance of Hooker getting justice for his friend's murder through the normal channels; the only way in which this can be achieved is to go outside the law. Use the HTML below. Hooker is not a violent man by nature and admits that he does not know much about killing, but nevertheless wishes to take revenge for his partner's death. For all its brashness and big personality, "American Hustle" is a character study at its core—an exploration of dissatisfaction and drive, and the lengths to which we're willing to go for that elusive thing known as a better life. The other actors in the cast, especially Murali Gopi, pull their weight. Movie Review: In Amazon Prime Video’s Coming 2 America, the follow-up to Coming to America, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reprise their roles and … Russell's film is big and big-hearted and more than a little messy, but that's apropos given the over-the-top characters, their insatiable greed and their brazen schemes. But he's so skilled with these actors (despite reports of his exhausting methods of motivation on set), he not only finds a side to them we haven't seen in his previous films, he finds a side we haven't seen, period.Â, Co-written with Eric Singer, Russell's latest is based on the Abscam sting operation of the late '70s and early '80s, in which a con artist helped the FBI catch members of Congress taking bribes. Mainly Park lets her actors interact, their humor … All 16 Egot Winners, From Audrey Hepburn to Alan Menken (Photos), Alan Rickman Remembered by Fans on What Would've Been His 75th Birthday, 8 Biggest Golden Globe Nomination Snubs Ever. In the film, Manaus is a place of irreconcilable tension between the lush natural world and the cold, metallic world of industrial modernity. ... For such a person, the phrase “defund the police” could especially sting, as his profession isn’t reasonably funded to begin with. Check out the tweets below. Nothing bad happens to the dog, who is a very good boy. After his partner, Luther, is killed, Hooker flees, and seeks the help of Henry Gondorff, one of Luther's contacts, who is a master of the long con. We even end up feeling sympathy for Jeremy Renner as crooked Camden, N.J., Mayor Carmine Polito. Running time: 73 MIN. Which Film Has the Most Diabolical Con Artist(s)? (The film's excellent, understated score is by Finneas O'Connell, Eilish's producer and brother.) The Sting I might be completely wrong in my reading of the scene as a statement on the patriarchy, but I appreciated the sting of the moment nonetheless. British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors, not knowing that the allied forces are planning to destroy it. Wyoming, early 1900s. Sting erkannte, dass er sein Arrangement von 1987 besser gar nicht erst umstellt. There’s also a scene where a potential savior, when faced with believing Jessica or Man, sides with the killer simply because Man convinces him Jessica is hysterical. Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II. To win, Hooker and Gondorff will need all their skills...and a fair amount of confidence. In the process it loses some of the sting in Zellner’s fight for racial equality. Disney+'s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Struggles to Get Off the Ground, SXSW 2021: The Feast, Paul Dood's Deadly Lunch Break, Witch Hunt, Book Excerpt: A Lot Can Happen in the Middle of Nowhere: The Untold Story of the Making of Fargo by Todd Melby, SXSW 2021: Women is Losers, I'm Fine (Thanks for Asking), The End of Us. Johnny Hooker and Luther Coleman are `grifters' or confidence tricksters in 1930s Chicago. Is it worth it.  To play the swaggering Rosenfeld, the owner of a small chain of Long Island dry cleaners who makes his real money through fake art and fraudulent personal loans, Bale seemingly downed all that food he denied himself while shooting "The Machinist" and "Rescue Dawn. With Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning. Certificate: GP The stakes are high in this game, and our heroes must not only deal with Lonnegan's murderous tendencies, but also other side players who want a piece of the action. ‘The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet’ Review: A Shimmering Vision of Life’s Ordinary Strangeness Reviewed in Sundance Film Festival (online), Berlin, Jan. 27, 2021. In Texas, some of those people work for Local 100 United Labor Unions, a New Orleans group run by ACORN founder Wade Rathke. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. The fact that Rosalyn is constantly on the verge of burning the house down, for example, ends up being endearing in Russell's hands. Christy reviewed films for The Associated Press for over 14 years. (1973). Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his children against prejudice. (Microwave ovens aren't for everyone.) Irving has a young son, and a wife: Lawrence's needy, vulnerable and spectacularly passive-aggressive Rosalyn (Lawrence). (Seriously, the hair is awful, almost as bad as Bale's; Russell even goes so far as to show Cooper wearing the itty-bitty curlers at the kitchen table. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician and actor.He was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for new wave rock band the Police from 1977 to 1984, and launched a solo career in 1985. Russell doesn't judge any of these people for their idiocy or their aspirations. A team of cons is planning a new scam involving betting on a boxing match but one of its past victims aims to exact revenge by eliminating the whole group. The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936, involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss (Robert Shaw). Unknown to them, however, one of their victims works for a vicious local gangster named Doyle Lonnegan, and when Lonnegan finds out what has happened he has Luther murdered. The unreliable narration and urgent zooms, the 1970s milieu of flashily dressed scammers and mobsters, the carefully chosen pop songs underscoring key emotional moments: all those recognizably Scorcesean signatures are there, yet Russell infuses them with his unique brand of insanity. The report mentions how Sting was highlighted well in the match, but Allin, Cage, and Starks all shined as rising stars for the company. "Some of this actually happened," a title card playfully informs us at the film's start, before Russell introduces us to the glorious sight of Bale's paunchy Irving Rosenfeld plastering a horrendous hairpiece onto his shiny dome. The style is almost the exact opposite of film noir. It will be available on demand at a later date. David O. Russell out-Scorseses Martin Scorsese with "American Hustle," a '70s crime romp that's ridiculously entertaining in all the best ways. This is a small-budget film—hence unable to furnish an epic design to the … Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid.". Why didn't Lonnegan know who Hooker was, despite having ordered him killed? After a train robbery goes wrong they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. The film is certainly better than what the mainstream critics have said about the film, and I think that this film is quite frankly underrated. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con. ", He meets his match at a pool party in Adams' Sydney Prosser, a scrappy young woman from Albuquerque with dreams of reinventing herself in high style.