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The Grifters

Play trailer Poster for The Grifters R Released Dec 5, 1990 1h 53m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 47 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Hard-as-nails Lily Dillon (Anjelica Huston) works as a swindler for dangerous bookie Bobo (Pat Hingle), probably the only man she fears. Arriving in Los Angeles on business, Lily looks up her son, Roy (John Cusack), a small-time con artist content with paltry sleight-of-hand cheats. Roy's girlfriend, Myra (Annette Bening), looks like an All-American type but is a grifter looking to pull off another big-time con. The convergence of the three hustlers inevitably means trouble for all of them.
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Critics Consensus

Coolly collected and confidently performed, The Grifters is a stylish caper that puts the artistry in con.

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Critics Reviews

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker Toying with L.A. film noir, the director, Stephen Frears, and the scriptwriter, Donald E. Westlake, do twisted, anomalous things. Sep 11, 2023 Full Review Julie Salamon Wall Street Journal Frears is as good with the small touches as he is with the big ones -- and that means they're great. Aug 10, 2022 Full Review David Ansen Newsweek These doomed grifters deserve instant admission into the film noir pantheon. Feb 6, 2018 Full Review Terry Francis Southern Voice (Atlanta) Wonderfully eccentric. Rated: 3.5/4 May 9, 2023 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Frears has taken many liberties with the book, and the movie is, something rather rare, better than the original. [Full review in Spanish] Jan 25, 2023 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews There's little doubt that The Grifters ultimately fares quite a bit better than its literary predecessor... Rated: 3.5/4 May 2, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Don T THIS WILL BE MY LAST OF MANY REVIES, BECAUSE YOU ILLOGICALLY REMOVED STARS FROM AUDIENCE RATINGS. WHY????????????????????????????????????????????? IT MAKES THEM TOTALLY USELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/23/24 Full Review Georgan G This movie is more than a neo-noir thriller, it's a perfectly put together movie. The writing & flow of the script is on point. The acting is flawless. Watching these three actors is immensely entertaining. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/28/24 Full Review Josh R The overly cruel and senseless ending spoiled the good impression of the film... Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/10/23 Full Review Audience Member The greatest 01 hour: and 53 minutes of crime fighting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review John R While each individual actor does a great job, and there certainly are plenty of grifts in the movie (the title is no lie), this one just seemed to fall flat. Why am I supposed to care about these people? Other than "We steal money from people via shenanigans," what's the plot? I'm just not impressed. Also, (Spoiler) Roy has a thing for his mom(?). Gross. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/17/22 Full Review Audience Member The movie tries hard to add style points (the rather refreshing Neo-Noir style was instantly intriguing). But ultimately this was a tedious chore of a film. Anjelica Huston gave a pretty fantastic performance but it's totally lost in a nonsensical plot. Annette Benning has a few memorable scenes as well (not always so memorable for her acting :) ). I think the biggest miss though was in the casting. John Cusack is genuinely an actor I enjoy but he was a good 5-10'uears too young and too "John Cusack" to play the role here. I mean Rob Lowe maybe could have pulled it off. A pretty great Huston performance is lost on a waste of nearly 2 hours of film…. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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The Grifters

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Movie Info

Synopsis Hard-as-nails Lily Dillon (Anjelica Huston) works as a swindler for dangerous bookie Bobo (Pat Hingle), probably the only man she fears. Arriving in Los Angeles on business, Lily looks up her son, Roy (John Cusack), a small-time con artist content with paltry sleight-of-hand cheats. Roy's girlfriend, Myra (Annette Bening), looks like an All-American type but is a grifter looking to pull off another big-time con. The convergence of the three hustlers inevitably means trouble for all of them.
Director
Stephen Frears
Producer
Robert A. Harris, Jim Painter, Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter
Donald E. Westlake, Jim Thompson
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Cineplex-Odeon Films
Rating
R
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 5, 1990, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 21, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$10.1M
Runtime
1h 53m
Sound Mix
Surround
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