Richard Gaddis (John C. Reilly) is a Los Angeles con man in search of a new partner. Enter Rodrigo (Diego Luna), a young grifter pulling minor scams in a casino. When Rodrigo is caught by a savvy waitress who senses his scheme, Richard steps in, posing as an undercover cop, and escorts him out. Much to Rodrigo's surprise, Richard asks him to be his partner-in-crime. Over the next 48 hours, their skills are put to the test as Richard is given a potentially lucrative chance to deliver a counterfeit bank note to a wealthy guest (Peter Mullan) at the hotel where his sister, Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is the concierge. But is he trustworthy, or is Rodrigo just another one of his unwitting marks?
This tricky debut from director Gregory Jacobs is a remake of the 2002 Argentinean film NINE QUEENS. Pulling off the difficult stunt of making the audience gleefully root for a pair of criminals, the script is tight and surprising, making it genuinely difficult to determine who is conning whom in a story in which everyone seems to be on the make. The always-impressive Reilly takes on a lead role with the bravado one would expect after a string of brilliant supporting turns.
(35 votes)
2.
Richard Gaddis (John C. Reilly) catches young Rodrigo (Diego Luna) conning some casino waitresses out of chump change and decides the guy is just the right chump to help him run other local scams. The slyest thing about this diverting remake of the 2000 Argentinian heist flick Nine Queens is, in fact, how much everybody seems to have a scam in the works--there isn’t a single honest soul in sinful, sunbeaten Los Angeles. Richard and Rodrigo soon get caught up in a big swindle concerning some counterfeit currency, a game that ensnares Gaddis’ angrily estranged sister Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal), the concierge of the hotel that’s hosting the guys’ main mark (Peter Mullan, coolly brutish). What happens next isn’t really anything new--The Sting, anyone?--and the requisite final twist might not hold up to closer inspection, but director Gregory Jacobs knows how to lie back and it keep it gliding affably along (he served as an assistant director on nearly all of Steven Soderbergh’s films). The performers all hook into the low-key vibe: Reilly’s schlub persona fits snugly into his small-time grifter role, while Luna and Gyllenhaal seem more simmering and sexy in each new shot. The movie is as entertaining and inessential as L.A. itself. --Steve Wiecking
(33 votes)
3.
By the time you figure it out... you've been had. Think of them as working men who work the angles. Rodrigo is the rookie. Richard is the mentor who knows crime like a book. But a new book is about to be written.
John C. Reilly, Diego Luna and Maggie Gyllenhaal navigate the con-or-be-conned world of the L.A. grift in a clever caper directed by Gregory Jacobs and produced by Jacobs, George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh. A $750,000 one-night score awaits Richard and Rodrigo if they can flimflam an antique-currency collector (Peter Mullan) - a ruse soon packed with more twists than a box of pretzels. For suspense, surprise and a wow ending, catch this Criminal!
(32 votes)
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