The Sting (1973)

Director: George Roy Hill
Writer: David S. Ward
Cast: Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan, Harold Gould, John Heffernan, Dana Elcar, Jack Kehoe, Dimitra Arliss
Genre: Crime, Drama, Comedy

Four years after Hill directed Newman and Redford together as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the trio returns along Shaw as the cornerstones of The Sting. And what a masterpiece they managed to make this time. The leading acting trio is brilliant, Ward's script has the perfect balance he never found again and Hill's direction stitched it all together into one hundred and twenty nine minutes of cinematic excellence.

Set in mid-30's during the great depression, we follow a young con artist (Redford) searching revenge for his partners death. We're taking into the big con world, attempting to score big from the criminal New York/Chicago gangster (Shaw) who ordering the kill. To make things more complicated our con man is next on that hit list and he's never done big cons before, and have to partner up with a former big-con man (Newman) learning the trade.

From Joliet, Illinois, where we begin our story in September 1936 following a runner into his boss' office, to Chicago, the just above two hour ride never get boring, never lose touch with its the story it tells and it's constantly complex enough to keep us more than just a bit interested. The soundtrack consists solely of Scott Joplin's rags and helps keep an authentic 30's feel throughout the movie, reminding us the world was so different back then prior to internet, mobile phones and complex con stories in every half decent TV show. Made in the Godfather-period of movies, this is the Godfather of all con movies. Influencing a lot of the later seen attempts in the genre, but despite my love of the genre I've never seen any movie come close to this. 37 years later, and still this is most likely as good as the genre ever will get.

There's a couple of small nuances I could point towards if asked for non-perfect specifics, but this is one case where the sum of all parts make those minor concerns nothing but small drops of rain needed to see the rainbow. Behind the already mentioned brilliant trio, comes a bunch of actors and actresses giving life to a wide range of grifters, cops, gangsters and the rare honest man or woman. All very credible and well I might add. It's really not any reason not to love this movie. The only thing might be the lack of people screaming from the rooftops how great it is. Can't believe I've hardly heard it's praise sung, and as a result I haven't seen it before. A must see classic, both within its genre and within cinema all together. Nothing short of a masterpiece.