The Grifters (1990)

Want to see it?

Seen it?

0
1
2
3
4
5
Rate this movie.

Buy it now on DVD

Starting at $3.49

Want to buy it?

Write a review

Discuss it

Add to lists

Recommend it

Get recommendations

Watch trailer

Directed by Stephen Frears.

Starring Annette Bening, John Cusack, Pat Hingle, Anjelica Huston, J.T. Walsh.

Watch trailer

Director Stephen Frears' tense adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel The Grifters was one of a number of revival film noirs in the first half of the '90s. Updating the setting to contemporary Los Angeles, the film follows a trio of con artists who are intent on out-foxing each other. Roy Dillon (John Cusack) is a simple, two-bit con, whose life is thrown into turmoil when his estranged mother Lilly (Anjelica Huston) returns home in an attempt to evade the law. Lilly doesn't warm to Roy's girlfriend Myra Langtry (Annette Bening), who is too similar to herself. Soon, the two women are competing for Roy in a battle that is more of a power struggle than a pursuit of affection, and the battle quickly turns dangerous. Huston was nominated for an Academy Award for her work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

[more]

Reviews and discussions

The Grifters (1990, USA, Stephe ...
by CinemaRian in CinemaRian Blog

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"The Grifters is the first American film by Irish director Stephen Frears, best known for a series of dramadies of urban Irish life starring future Star Trek actor Colm Meany. But this isn't just a film set in America, it's fiercly American, maybe in only a way a non-native could see the country. While I was watching the film, I began to formulate my review. The opening line was going to be "The Grifters is the funniest movie I have seen in a long time", and the first hour is funny and brillant. But then Frears stars playing the matieral straight, and the movie becomes conventional, well done, but something we've seen before. The Grifters begins as a hilarous parody of crime movies. Based on a novel by noted crime novelist Jim Thompson (who also co-wrote the scripts for The Killing and Paths of Glory) the material certainly lends itself to parody. Roy (John Cusack) is a small time con artist who is happily in a relationship Myra, a prostitue (Annette Benning). Roy first learne ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

loved it.

Of the several movies made in the 1990s that mined the original material of writer Jim Thompson, Stephen Frears' The Grifters was easily the best. Adapted for the screen by noted crime novelist Donald Westlake, the intelligent, knowing script is a major strength. Like Frears' previous film, Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters is full of smart, character-driven deceit and intrigue. It's essentially a morality play, but, in keeping with the material's film noir feel, its morals are not simple, and definitive conclusions are unclear. John Cusack, Annette Bening, and Anjelica Huston perfectly portray the three characters involved in the ethical tug-of-war: Cusack finally asserted himself an adult actor with his stylish, sympathetic performance, but Huston and Bening steal the show as the harpies out to devour him. They capture the film's peculiarly fragile tone. With its odd gloss and modern viewpoint, The Grifters is more akin to the post-noir sensibilities of Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye than to such other neo-noir films as Red Rock West or the Thompson-inspired After Dark, My Sweet. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Tags: Loved-It , orangesinatowel , jim-thompson , doublecross , murder
View all