The Sting
The Sting has been one of my top favorites for a while now, so I had to show it to my girlfriend. It's got Chicago; great music; a great script that keeps moving; that wonderful collaboration of Robert Redford, Paul Newman, and George Roy Hill that worked just as fantastically in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; and we can't forget Robert Shaw; fun direction and structure with the different title cards for the different acts. Some people have pointed out that while the film takes place in the 1930s the Scott Joplin music was composed some time during the first decade of the 1900s. Nonetheless it fits perfectly. I don't think I have to defend why this isn't really a problem.
The great thing about this movie is that you think as an audience you are in on all the tricks. I don't want to give away anything at all, but the brilliance of the film is that the real sting is as much on the audience as it is on any of the other characters.
The thing that gets me about trying to view this movie is my confusion about how it was meant to be shown. There are different DVDs that present the film in different aspect ratios. But it seems clear that the more "full screen" aspect ratio features more information than the "widescreen" version. I've read conflicting reports regarding how this film was shot and intended to be shot, but it does seem clear that the film was originally shot in a "full screen" type aspect ratio and then was often exhibited with the top and bottom cropped off from what was originally shot. What I'm not sure about is if this is how the filmmakers intended on having it exhibited while they were shooting it, or if this was something decided by studio executives subsequently. It certainly does seem like there are some times when watching the "widescreen" version that part of the image is cropped in a way that would not have seemed intentional while shooting. Thus, I would prefer to watch the "full screen" version to see everything. I hope this helps if you were as confused as me.
Rating: 10/10