The Grifters

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Carter S @seestonebat Oct 5 This is a shockingly overrated movie which is riddled with terrible screenwriting. I finally got around to watching it 35 years after its release, having heard good things about it, and I'm really disappointed. There are a lot of plot holes and just shockingly bad screenwriting here. Without giving away too much, a character in desparate need of money leaves a literal car trunk full of money behind before going on the lam for no discernable reason. There's a dramatic death scene that is ridiculous and physically impossible, and it could have been easily written to not be. One of the primary characters is depicted as cold and calculating and does idiotic things, including given the choice of two cars to drive away from a murder scene, they take the one registered to the murder victim and not the one that the police had no reason to pull over. Just, terrible, terrible writing. What a waste of a brilliant cast. See more Ted B @Movieaddicted Sep 8 3.5 stars; I am a real sucker for "con" movies, especially when there is an all-star cast, and the audience becomes part of the con. A Martin Scorsese film... what else needs to be said? It was fast-paced and had multiple plots/cons going on at the same time. The one thing you do know is that you're going to get a Greek tragedy ending. No disappointment there. All in all, I was a little disappointed with the movie. I thought the acting and directing were good (as was expected). This film had so much potential. I can't put my finger on it, but there just seemed to be something missing. See more Meri S. @mschroeder Aug 29 DNF. Not that good. Too bad since a stellar cast. See more Dana B @RT62120709 06/25/2025 A slick and stylish neo-noir crime drama featuring three exceptional performances. See more Jesse T @Jess800 04/19/2025 Some of the cheesiest and most poorly written lines of dialogue ever committed to a serious film. The characters are caricature. The script slogs on with nothing to show for it until the final act, where the story final takes shape when it no longer matters. And the over the top performance from the otherwise great Annette Benning early on in the film doesn't help. Cusack was also miscast. It's hard to believe the talent behind the film, including writer Donald Westlake, Frears who directed and Scorsese who produced. This film is just a poorly done attempt at neo noir that never feels genuine or even remotely intriguing. I believe the critics reviews are warped due to the talent involved. Skip this dud. See more shteebo T @RT03918317 03/13/2025 Quirky, entertaining film noir about three con artists, based on the book by respected hard-boiled crime writer Jim Thompson. Great soundtrack too. See more Read all reviews

The Grifters

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