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| 1973 |
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| Director: George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid) |
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| Lead: Paul Newman (Cars) |
So number 95 in the list. When I looked at the poster and the date it was released I wasn't over excited about having to endure another 2 hours + of pre 80's mediocre movie. Bizarrely this was released on Christmas day in the US, Now I have a couple of American friends, and I know they are avid movie goers, But I doubt even they would skip out on a cold snowy Christmas day, ditch the festivities with their family and sit in the cinema to watch this.
The story is set in 1930's Chicago, following a con man called Johnny Hooker (Paul Newman). He is teamed up with his partner in crime, Luther Coleman. We see him and Luther deceive a man out of about $15,000, and also deceive the audience who hadn't yet been told they were working together. Hooker, soon realizes he has robbed a connected guy in a gang related business. The next day hooker finds his friend dead,killed by the gang who found out about them. Hooker decides to skip town to avoid the heat and to get revenge on the boss of the gang who killed his friend.
Hooker now teams up with Henry Gondorff, an old buddy of the now late Luther. Gandorff is an old big time con man, and decides to help Hooker in his "Sting" that will damage the boss financially, rather than physically.
The plot is to set up a fake betting racket. Hooker and Gandoff will slowly get close to the mark and con him in to betting big money on a horse race that had already taken place.
The boss, Doyle Lonnegan is and Irish banker who is also a card cheat and a gang boss. Hooker and Gandoff + a team of about 30 guys and 1 lady set up a fake club and start to gain the trust of Lonnegan through giving him the correct outcome of a few races. As this progresses the bets get bigger and bigger until the final bet of $500,000 which for 1930 must have been about $5,000,000, Big bucks.
This movie was a pretty easy watch, mainly because it is broken down in to segments. Each part of the movie has a title screen with what is going to happen. So you can just sit back and enjoy the story unfolding.
Without being too complicated the story had enough twists and turns to keep you occupied. This movie must have been a pioneering milestone in the genre of mobster/con artist movies. The set was good, setting the scene of the mean streets of Chicago back in the 30's, along with the mobster style suits and vehicles they drove. Unlike movies of this genre today, this was made with less, car chases and CGI and more whit and charisma.
I think ill not spoil this one, and leave the final twist in the plot for you to watch yourselves, but it was a BIG one, this had my guessing from the last 45 minutes onwards, when the FBI, local cop and cafe worker got involved. A great ending to a mostly pleasant watch. I say mostly pleasant, the leading ladies in this movie were lacking in the aesthetics department, but on a plus note, this is the first movie in the 100 so far with female nudity in (not the leading ladies may I add), always a most in a great film.
Scores
Visual
6/10 - Great set and costumes.
Sound
4/10 - A familiar sounding theme tune, but does sound more like an ice cream truck coming down the road, than an intro to a serious movie.
Acting
5/10 - Straight down the middle, nothing brilliant for me, but noting too shabby. Just a good watch
Plot
6/10 - Plot was good, twisting and turning all the way through.
Ending
7/10 - Great ending, good twist that surprised me.
Final Score
28/50
Total Movie Minutes So Far - 802
Up next - All About Eve (1950)
The story is set in 1930's Chicago, following a con man called Johnny Hooker (Paul Newman). He is teamed up with his partner in crime, Luther Coleman. We see him and Luther deceive a man out of about $15,000, and also deceive the audience who hadn't yet been told they were working together. Hooker, soon realizes he has robbed a connected guy in a gang related business. The next day hooker finds his friend dead,killed by the gang who found out about them. Hooker decides to skip town to avoid the heat and to get revenge on the boss of the gang who killed his friend.
 |
| Gandorff and Hooker. |
The plot is to set up a fake betting racket. Hooker and Gandoff will slowly get close to the mark and con him in to betting big money on a horse race that had already taken place.
The boss, Doyle Lonnegan is and Irish banker who is also a card cheat and a gang boss. Hooker and Gandoff + a team of about 30 guys and 1 lady set up a fake club and start to gain the trust of Lonnegan through giving him the correct outcome of a few races. As this progresses the bets get bigger and bigger until the final bet of $500,000 which for 1930 must have been about $5,000,000, Big bucks.
This movie was a pretty easy watch, mainly because it is broken down in to segments. Each part of the movie has a title screen with what is going to happen. So you can just sit back and enjoy the story unfolding.
Without being too complicated the story had enough twists and turns to keep you occupied. This movie must have been a pioneering milestone in the genre of mobster/con artist movies. The set was good, setting the scene of the mean streets of Chicago back in the 30's, along with the mobster style suits and vehicles they drove. Unlike movies of this genre today, this was made with less, car chases and CGI and more whit and charisma.
I think ill not spoil this one, and leave the final twist in the plot for you to watch yourselves, but it was a BIG one, this had my guessing from the last 45 minutes onwards, when the FBI, local cop and cafe worker got involved. A great ending to a mostly pleasant watch. I say mostly pleasant, the leading ladies in this movie were lacking in the aesthetics department, but on a plus note, this is the first movie in the 100 so far with female nudity in (not the leading ladies may I add), always a most in a great film.
Scores
Visual
6/10 - Great set and costumes.
Sound
4/10 - A familiar sounding theme tune, but does sound more like an ice cream truck coming down the road, than an intro to a serious movie.
Acting
5/10 - Straight down the middle, nothing brilliant for me, but noting too shabby. Just a good watch
Plot
6/10 - Plot was good, twisting and turning all the way through.
Ending
7/10 - Great ending, good twist that surprised me.
Final Score
28/50
Total Movie Minutes So Far - 802
Up next - All About Eve (1950)
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