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> The Grifters (Miramax Collector's Series) |
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Staring:
Anjelica Huston,
John Cusack,
Annette Bening,
Jan Munroe,
Robert Weems
Director:
Stephen Frears
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $9.99
Our Price: $3.41
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
EAN: 0786936190953
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Miramax Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Miramax Home Entertainment
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Miramax Home Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2002-09-24
Running Time: 110
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 1991-01-04 |
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Description
Academy Award(R)-winning actress Anjelica Huston (Best Supporting Actress, PRIZZI'S HONOR, 1985), John Cusack (SERENDIPITY), and Annette Bening (AMERICAN BEAUTY) star in this acclaimed hit where seduction and betrayal could lead to murder! When small-time cheat Roy Dillon (Cusack) winds up in the hospital following an unsuccessful scam, it sets up a confrontation between his estranged mother Lilly (Huston) and sexy girlfriend Myra (Bening). Both Lilly and Myra are ruthless confidence artists playing the con game in a league far above Roy ... and always looking for their next victim! The question soon becomes who's conning who as Roy finds himself caught in a complicated web of passion and mistrust!
Amazon.com
Annette Bening twists like a mink on a leash through Stephen Frears's adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel. This may be the perfect trope for the moral hysteria that coils around a mother, her son, and his girlfriend in this slender but highly pleasurable neo-noir. Small in effect and local in scope, the film is about small-fry, attractive, bloodless con artists who view the world as neatly split between ropers and suckers, grifters and squares. "Grifter's got an irresistible urge to beat a guy that's wise," an old-timer tells Roy (John Cusack). And yet the three characters here--played by Angelica Huston, Cusack, and Bening--only beat the innocent: Lilly (Huston) gigs at the track for a mobster named Bobo, putting wads of cash on long-shot horses to even out the odds. Roy, her son, swindles citizens by dimes and degrees, flashing twenties at bars then paying for his beer with tens. His girlfriend, Myra (Bening), is hustling herself, her salad days as a long-con roper behind her. Theirs is a world of gut punches and smart lines, and the adrenaline these cheats and chiselers live by is palpable onscreen. But a larger canvas? Maybe it's there as a parallel universe. "What do you sell again?" Myra asks Roy, the matchbook salesman. "Self-confidence," he says, a wry allusion to the confidence game all three of them are playing. The movie boasts dazzling turns by Bening, Cusack, and especially Huston, whose mère fatale breaks new ground for noir. --Lyall Bush
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 Semi-serious, dream-like movie in dealing with a serious theme, 2010-04-02
GRIFTERS is an entertaining movie, having no real beginning
middle or ending. Its goal is to underline a very specialized,
and specific behavior carried out by a limited number of people, of
small time scams, also known as grifting. Perhaps at the time
the movie was released, pop culture found this type of theme somewhat
hip and cool in a flic, but in any event, the strong aspect of this movie,
are the 3 main actors, who very skillfully give out an aura of
semi-seriousness, in a movie that itself, deals with a theme that
normally could be taken very literally, seriously and dramatically.
It also has many dream-like elements, which is difficult to do,
unless the story is written and filmed by experienced pro's, which
was the case in this movie.
Finally, Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Benning all
visibly sport a lot of charisma, pleasure and natural excitement
in playing their roles, and clearly, the audience will appreciate
that aspect, as well, since the comedy side to the film is also
appreciated by a lot of viewers.
The Grifters (Miramax Collector's Series), 2010-03-11
In Los Angeles, the smalltime crook Roy Dillon is hit by a baseball bat in the stomach when he tries to swindle a bar attendant. His mother Lilly Dillon works in La Jolla for the powerful bookmaker Bobo Justus, who owns the Justus Amusement Company in Baltimore, placing bets to change the odds at the track but also stealing some money for her that she stashes in her Cadillac. When Lilly comes to Los Angeles to a horse race, she pays a visit to Roy after eight years without seeing each other, and she finds that he has an internal hemorrhage and sends him to the hospital, saving his life. When the experienced Lilly sees Roy's girlfriend, the slut and con artist Myra Langtry, she immediately finds that Myra is a roper. But the grieved Roy does not pay attention to his absent mother and decides to travel with Myra to La Jolla to spend a couple of days resting. Myra sooner finds that Roy lives of short-con grift and proposes him a great plan to rope tycoons; further she unravels Lilly's scheme with Bobo's money. When Roy turns Myra and her offer down, the greedy women set in motion a betrayal that brings tragic consequences to each player. "The Grifters" sees John Cusack play Roy Dillon, a grifter whose loyalties are split between his con-artist girlfriend (Annette Bening) and his estranged mother (Anjelica Huston) in a tangled web of deceit with bloody consequences. There is not a lot of action in this movie but when it occurs, it is shocking and brutal. Definitely worth watching.
The Grifters on DVD, 2010-04-04
terrific movie. Made an impression on me the first time I saw it at a theater. One of my first times seeing Annette Benning who really pops off the screen. Wanted to add it to my collection.
Less alluring upon re-watching, 2010-08-16
Ever since originally viewing this in a theater upon its first release, I carried the impression of an impressive entertainment. Yet, recently re-watching it on DVD left me somewhat disappointed. The tale itself is thin, the dialogue a little thread-bare and the sets just a tad on the low-budget side, often looking like a TV show instead of a big Hollywood movie. This got great reviews in its day. It just hasn't held up so well, in my opinion. Angelica Huston comes off best and Annette Bening least here. John Cusack falls somewhere in between, a little too wet behind the ears here to really bring much grit.
ANNETTE BENING SEDUCES, 2009-10-06
When Annette Bening leans naked in a doorway in a seductive and bold posture, that lingering, unexpected image defines the cool criminality of this neo-noir. Stephen Frears's adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel twists our discomfort with the primal relationship of mother, son and girlfriend. The latter two played by John Cusack and Angelica Huston.
The central conceit here is suggests that a life devoted to running the con corrupts the most basic of relationships and values. Well, duh. The world of the story seen through the eyes of the con-artists and is filled with either "grifters" or "squares."
This same world-view seems to have permeated the politics of capitalism.
In light of today's national economic woes, how ironic that we once called chiselers "confidence" artists.
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