- Mar 14, 2012
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As promised, here's part 2.
THIEVES AND CON ARTISTS
This is one of my favorite genres. Die Hard is a heist movie in disguise. The Italian Job is a heist movie more interested in getting away with the money than setting up the actual robbery. It’s not enough to set out to steal money; it’s to steal it cleverly. What I love about the genre is there are so many ways to approach it.
Con game movies on the other hand are about fooling the audience. The best ones do it without you even knowing it. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a comedy that directed all your attention to the two stars, never once tipping its hand to the real con that was going on. The Grifters flat out told you who the con artists were, that they were running a con, but never hinted it was really going to be a Shakespearean tragedy.
For me it doesn’t get any better than when you combine a solid heist in equal parts with a con. It’s like watching a magic trick, only you don’t have to suffer watching a magician.
The Spanish Prisoner – 1997
I’m gonna start with this one, which lands squarely in the con game genre and is written and directed by a master of this, David Mamet. He has another movie that is amazing, called House of Cards, but its scope is nothing like here. There are long cons and short, and this is all about the long con. I wish I could say more, but to be honest I can’t remember because it’s been so long since I’ve seen this. Yes, I’m recommending a movie I not only don’t own, but can barely remember! And that is a good thing, because it means I can watch it again and be surprised anew.
That is a fault with these movies…once you see them, they’re kinda ruined. It’s like watching The Sixth Sense only to realize you can’t unremember that Bruce Willis is dead. Oops, spoiler alert.
Steve Martin is in this, which is unsettling because he’s not playing it for laughs like he did 9 years earlier in Dirty Rotten. I know Mamet’s wife Rebecca Pigeon is in this too, as is Ricky Jay. I’m really selling it, aren’t I? Look, you go into a Mamet movie for two things: the first is his amazing dialogue, and the second is how well he can handle pulling one over on the audience. The unfortunate part is not every actor can handle the cadence needed to deliver this dialogue. This is why I’m not pitching House of Cards, because Lindsey Crouse is near unwatchable in that, and she’s the star.
Interestingly enough Mamet actually wrote and directed another movie called Heist, which you’d think I’d be all over. Meh.
The Thomas Crown Affair – 1999
Okay, first off this movie is damn sexy. Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo are practically undressing each other with their eyes from the get go. The fact that one is a crook and the other a cop and it’s no secret, well that’s what makes it interesting.
It’s also what makes this such an incredible heist movie with touches of the con. How do you pull off an incredible robbery when you are being watched like a hawk? In a lot of ways it is like watching a magic trick. You know that’s what you’re there to see, and still you are amazed. And there is such joy in the filmmaking, it spills on over to the viewer.
It should be noted that this is directed by the same guy that directed Die Hard, John McTiernan. No wonder I like it so much. The big mystery to me is, why wasn’t it more well known? Maybe because that Zeta-Jones / Connery movie Entrapment came out a few months prior and it looked a bit like that? And since that movie was mediocre, everyone took a pass on this? Too bad, because it is amazing.
Snatch – 2000
It was a toss-up between this and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. The subtle difference between the two is that Lock is more of a gangster movie with thugs stumbling through a set of coincidences, while Snatch is gangsters setting up their own circumstances. That makes this a truer heist film, since the actions are intentional. Plus it has Brad Pitt in it. He's famous.
The movie is very British, highly stylized, and very funny. I do consider it a type of con game movie too, in that how the characters are going to get out of the very messed up situation they are in is kept completely hidden from the audience. The final reveal feels like taking a deep breath after holding it for too long.
What puts this on the list is that again, I think people have forgotten about it. It’s become “one of those Guy Ritchie films”, and then people wonder if they even like his movies remember the flicks are British and filled with gangsters, and decide they like Tarantino better. I admit it, as I often will select Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown over Lock or Snatch. And then I eventually watch Snatch and think, “damn that was good!”, and wonder why I didn’t watch it sooner.
Ocean’s Eleven – 2001
You are probably questioning the validity of my list if I can include a movie that had 2 sequels made to it, was a huge box office success, and is star studded,. Too bad, my list. The thing is, I think this is the perfect melding of heist and con game. We see the planning of the heist, watch the set-up of the con, see the execution of the heist, and then get confused as to how it all went down. Then it all gets revealed and you realize the filmmakers were having a bit of fun with you.
This movie is like comfort food to me. If I want to watch something that is going to leave me happy and satisfied, this gets thrown in. It is a very easily digested example of the genre, but incredibly smart too. If I were a 20 year old today and somebody threw this my way, I’d probably be turned off by all the ‘star power’ that so isn’t that age group’s thing. Much like I was when Chinatown got recommended to me. Then you sit down and watch and see there is so much more beyond the stars.
I like this whole trilogy, actually. I know the 2nd one is a bit hard to love. Without it though, the 3rd wouldn’t be nearly so satisfying. This is getting together with a group of longtime friends, sitting down and rehashing stories to great amusement.
Starting to get an idea of my sensibilities yet? Well wait until the next installment, when I highlight 'art films', AKA movies with subtitles. My definition of 'art' is highly questionable!
THIEVES AND CON ARTISTS
This is one of my favorite genres. Die Hard is a heist movie in disguise. The Italian Job is a heist movie more interested in getting away with the money than setting up the actual robbery. It’s not enough to set out to steal money; it’s to steal it cleverly. What I love about the genre is there are so many ways to approach it.
Con game movies on the other hand are about fooling the audience. The best ones do it without you even knowing it. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a comedy that directed all your attention to the two stars, never once tipping its hand to the real con that was going on. The Grifters flat out told you who the con artists were, that they were running a con, but never hinted it was really going to be a Shakespearean tragedy.
For me it doesn’t get any better than when you combine a solid heist in equal parts with a con. It’s like watching a magic trick, only you don’t have to suffer watching a magician.
The Spanish Prisoner – 1997
I’m gonna start with this one, which lands squarely in the con game genre and is written and directed by a master of this, David Mamet. He has another movie that is amazing, called House of Cards, but its scope is nothing like here. There are long cons and short, and this is all about the long con. I wish I could say more, but to be honest I can’t remember because it’s been so long since I’ve seen this. Yes, I’m recommending a movie I not only don’t own, but can barely remember! And that is a good thing, because it means I can watch it again and be surprised anew.
That is a fault with these movies…once you see them, they’re kinda ruined. It’s like watching The Sixth Sense only to realize you can’t unremember that Bruce Willis is dead. Oops, spoiler alert.
Steve Martin is in this, which is unsettling because he’s not playing it for laughs like he did 9 years earlier in Dirty Rotten. I know Mamet’s wife Rebecca Pigeon is in this too, as is Ricky Jay. I’m really selling it, aren’t I? Look, you go into a Mamet movie for two things: the first is his amazing dialogue, and the second is how well he can handle pulling one over on the audience. The unfortunate part is not every actor can handle the cadence needed to deliver this dialogue. This is why I’m not pitching House of Cards, because Lindsey Crouse is near unwatchable in that, and she’s the star.
Interestingly enough Mamet actually wrote and directed another movie called Heist, which you’d think I’d be all over. Meh.
The Thomas Crown Affair – 1999
Okay, first off this movie is damn sexy. Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo are practically undressing each other with their eyes from the get go. The fact that one is a crook and the other a cop and it’s no secret, well that’s what makes it interesting.
It’s also what makes this such an incredible heist movie with touches of the con. How do you pull off an incredible robbery when you are being watched like a hawk? In a lot of ways it is like watching a magic trick. You know that’s what you’re there to see, and still you are amazed. And there is such joy in the filmmaking, it spills on over to the viewer.
It should be noted that this is directed by the same guy that directed Die Hard, John McTiernan. No wonder I like it so much. The big mystery to me is, why wasn’t it more well known? Maybe because that Zeta-Jones / Connery movie Entrapment came out a few months prior and it looked a bit like that? And since that movie was mediocre, everyone took a pass on this? Too bad, because it is amazing.
Snatch – 2000
It was a toss-up between this and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. The subtle difference between the two is that Lock is more of a gangster movie with thugs stumbling through a set of coincidences, while Snatch is gangsters setting up their own circumstances. That makes this a truer heist film, since the actions are intentional. Plus it has Brad Pitt in it. He's famous.
The movie is very British, highly stylized, and very funny. I do consider it a type of con game movie too, in that how the characters are going to get out of the very messed up situation they are in is kept completely hidden from the audience. The final reveal feels like taking a deep breath after holding it for too long.
What puts this on the list is that again, I think people have forgotten about it. It’s become “one of those Guy Ritchie films”, and then people wonder if they even like his movies remember the flicks are British and filled with gangsters, and decide they like Tarantino better. I admit it, as I often will select Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown over Lock or Snatch. And then I eventually watch Snatch and think, “damn that was good!”, and wonder why I didn’t watch it sooner.
Ocean’s Eleven – 2001
You are probably questioning the validity of my list if I can include a movie that had 2 sequels made to it, was a huge box office success, and is star studded,. Too bad, my list. The thing is, I think this is the perfect melding of heist and con game. We see the planning of the heist, watch the set-up of the con, see the execution of the heist, and then get confused as to how it all went down. Then it all gets revealed and you realize the filmmakers were having a bit of fun with you.
This movie is like comfort food to me. If I want to watch something that is going to leave me happy and satisfied, this gets thrown in. It is a very easily digested example of the genre, but incredibly smart too. If I were a 20 year old today and somebody threw this my way, I’d probably be turned off by all the ‘star power’ that so isn’t that age group’s thing. Much like I was when Chinatown got recommended to me. Then you sit down and watch and see there is so much more beyond the stars.
I like this whole trilogy, actually. I know the 2nd one is a bit hard to love. Without it though, the 3rd wouldn’t be nearly so satisfying. This is getting together with a group of longtime friends, sitting down and rehashing stories to great amusement.
Starting to get an idea of my sensibilities yet? Well wait until the next installment, when I highlight 'art films', AKA movies with subtitles. My definition of 'art' is highly questionable!
