Thursday, December 3, 2015

Thursday Movie Picks: Con Artists


Dear Reader,

I have been out of the country for several months, traveling the globe, doing missionary work. I've saved babies from burning buildings, returned beached whales to the sea, and ended world hunger. Due to all of this, my funds have been depleted. I am stuck in (insert third world country) and in dire need of returning to the United States to attend my step-grandmother's, long lost brother's, disabled cousin's triple funeral. If you would please wire every dime you have to me, I PROMISE, I will pay you back with interest promptly upon my return.

Thanks for being the wonderful human being you are,
Dell on Movies

I don't know about you, but I've gotten plenty of emails like that over the years. It amazes me that they ever work on anyone. My apologies if you are one of the ones it worked on.

I've taken a little bit of a break from Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves, but now I'm back. The point of that slice of comedic genius I used to open this post was my way of playing into this week's theme: movies about con artists. Let's get to it:

Trading Places
(1983)
Eddie Murphy plays Billy Ray Valentine, a rather low-rent con artist who happens to cross paths with some very rich folks. Unwittingly, he becomes a pawn in a bet/social experiment by the Duke brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy), owners of a highly successful brokerage firm. They fix circumstances so that Valentine literally trades places with Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Akroyd). Essentially, it's a comedy about a con artist being conned, then trying to con the people conning him.


White Men Can't Jump
(1992)
Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) is a former college basketball player who still makes a living playing the game. Instead of being in the NBA or playing in some league overseas, he travels to neighborhood parks all over and trades in on the stereotype of white guys not being that good at basketball to hustle the guys on whatever court he decides to show up to that day. Soon, he finds himself in an uneasy business partnership with Sidney (Wesley Snipes) one of his victims. He also has to deal with Gloria (Rosie Perez), his girlfriend who is growing tired of the hustler's life. Hilarity ensues.

The Imposter
(2012)
This is a documentary. I start with that sentence because  my hopefully brief synopsis will be on the unbelievable side despite it being a true story. An all-American blonde haired, blue-eyed thirteen year old boy went missing from Texas in 1994. Three years later, he is said to be found in Spain. However, we know that this isn't true. The person presumed to be this missing kid is actually a dark complected, brown-eyed French man in his twenties who pulled one over on the authorities who picked him up. Astonishingly, when the missing boy's sister shows up to take him home, she accepts this dude as her brother. And so does everyone else in the family. He even becomes a local media star because of his "triumphant escape" from his "abductors." Of course, he goes along with it, and even attends high school. The question is, who is conning who? You just have to watch this. It's a big ball of WTF? (Full Review)

Bonus Pick:

It is the Christmas season, so I had to include this gem. It's one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies:


Bad Santa
(2003)
This one is about a pair of conmen, Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) and Marcus (Tony Cox). Every year, they find a mall where Willie can work as Santa and Marcus as an elf. That's just a cover as the two invariably rob the place blind. This time around, Willie's drinking and other antics make it questionable whether he can complete the job. Of course, things are also complicated by a cute kid. Thornton has never been funnier and is helped along by great supporting turns from Cox, Kathy Bates, and a pair of late-greats: Bernie Mac and John Ritter.



16 comments:

  1. I'm still in awe over the fact that two of the most revered and arty filmmakers in Terrence Malick and Stanley Kubrick have White Men Can't Jump as one of their favorite films. Then again, they're geniuses so they're allowed to be weird and it makes them cooler. How can anyone not love that film? It's a classic. Especially in the way it explores what white guys could do when playing ball.

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    1. Never heard that about Kubrick or Malick. Good for them! It's such a great, fun movie.

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  2. I've never seen all of White Men Can't Jump, it's so embarrassing, I need to finish that. The Imposter sounds fascinating, I need to check that out.

    Now go back to unbeaching whales ;) lol

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    1. Definitely finish WMCJ. I'll probably rewatch it myself. The Imposter is just nuts. I'm pretty sure it's streaming on Netflix.

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  3. Glad to see you back and by the way LOVE your intro into your picks! Trading Places is a sly, clever film. As good as Aykroyd and Murphy are they're matched and maybe even surpassed by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche. I haven't seen White Men Can't Jump in years but did enjoy it when I saw it. I've always avoided Bad Santa like the plague, it just always looked so stupid to me but your write up makes me think I might have to give it a try. Imposter sounds fascinating and maybe a little sad.

    I don't have anything as clever as yours as a lead-in to my choices but it was fun sifting through all the choices, the theme can go off in so many directions. Here's mine for the week.

    The Grifters (1990)-Roy Dillon, a small time conman is torn between his loyalty to his ice cold mother and his slightly less ruthless girlfriend, both far more adroit grifters then he. A fascinating examination of a group of unsavory people with a staggeringly great performance from Anjelica Huston as one hard opportunistic woman, a true Medea.

    The Music Man (1962)-Traveling conman Harold Hill blows into River City expecting to fleece the townsfolk by forming a band and selling their children instruments that don't exist. Everything goes smoothly until he meets Marion the Librarian. Sprightly and colorful with great music.

    Bedtime Story (1964)-Lawrence Jameson (David Niven) lives in a castle on the French Riviera seducing wealthy women and persuading them through charm and other methods out of large quantities of their fortunes. Everything is going swimmingly until rival Freddy Benson (Marlon Brando) appears on the scene. The two eventually meet and engage in a bet. The first to successfully bilk $25,000 out of the pocket of Janet Walker (a very lovely Shirley Jones), the daughter of a wealthy business man, will win the title of king of the flim-flam men. When Freddy pretends to be paralyzed, supposedly the result of a sad love story, in order to garner Janet’s attention and sympathy Jameson turns up as his rival's putative psychiatrist and the game is on! Breezy comedy was the basis for the Steve Martin/Michael Caine starrer Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

    Honorable Mention-The Hoax (2006)-I remember so well the outcry this caused when it was happening as it occurred almost concurrently with Watergate and the two together showed the two sides of journalism. Based on a huge scandal of the 70's. Novelist Clifford Irving tells his publishing company that he has partnered with the reclusive Howard Hughes and has been authorized to write his autobiography. Amid much fanfare and a great deal of money the book is published. The catch-the entire project is a con job. The film tells Irving's version of the events.

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    1. The Grifters is fantastic. You're so right about Anjelica Huston, too. It's my favorite performance of hers. I've seen The Hoax, but for some reason I don't remember much about it, at all. Need to see the other two, especially Bedtime Story. The amount of Brando films I've seen is embarrassingly low.

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  4. It's a real change of pace for Brando, a light comedy. He was crazy about David Niven and said it was the best time and most fun he ever had making a film.

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    1. Definitely sounds like a change of pace. I just don't associate Brando with comedy, at all.

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  5. I have received those e-mails as well and, as a Credit Counsellor, I have had some clients actually fall for this. In the few cases i have seen, they were all elderly ladies which is a shame. I have not heard about The Imposter but that sounds interesting and so over the top. I still have not seen White Men Can't Jump because it is sports related but i got to give it a try. Trading Spaces is so funny and I love those 2 old SOB's especially since they are played by 2 great older actors that usually played innocent decent men. I love Bad Santa! We watch it every Christmas and I love Christmas! Even with all the ..um..shenanigans, it still has something uplifting to say(not including the poor kids underpants). I love Cloris Leachman as the granny

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    1. That is a shame. Hate to hear that.

      Check out The Imposter if you get a chance. It's a very interesting story. Check out WMCJ, too. Like the best sports movies, it's not actually about the sport, but uses that as the backdrop for its story. Glad to see the love for Trading Places and Bad Santa, too!

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  6. The Thomas Crown Affair jumps out. Nice choices. Will definitely check out The Imposter.

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    1. Can't wait to see what you have to think of The Imposter.

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  7. I love both Trading Places and White Men Can't Jump. Watched the crap out of both of those movies as a kid. Great picks!

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    1. Thanks! Seen them both a boat load of times, too.

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  8. I haven't seen The Imposter nor heard of it, but I've heard about the story that it focus on. Somehow I missed the part that the imposter is a 20 something guy. Incredible.

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