The Grifters

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Roy Dillon's (John Cusack) life is turned upside down when a con job goes bad. His estranged mother, Lilly (Anjelica Huston), who happens to be on the lam, reunites with her son to oversee his health care, only to be faced by Roy's headstrong, competitive, con-artist girlfriend Myra Langtry (Annette Bening). Myra does her best to win over her man in Stephen Frears's darkly funny and intricately layered look at life's seedy side.
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Netflix Rating: 3.4
NYT Critics' Pick: Swindler trio. Taut, funny melodrama. Read the review
Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh 89%: No consensus yet.
Fresh: 34 Rotten: 4 Rotten Tomatoes page
Top Rotten Tomatoes Critics: Best to savor The Grifters for its handsome design -- the picture looks as clean as a Hockney landscape -- and its juicy performances. full review

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

A mannerist thriller that doesn't begin to work despite the number of talented hands involved. full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Cusack underplays Roy, making him an unbelievable wiseguy, a colorless cipher too akin to the saps he loves to fleece. full review

Variety Staff, Variety

The Grifters is so good that one leaves the theater on a spellbound high. full review

Vincent Canby, New York Times

This is a movie of plot, not episode. It's not just a series of things that happen to the characters, but a web, a maze of consequences. full review

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is one human board game that's absorbing to watch. full review

Desson Thomson, Washington Post

It seduces you into believing it's merely a cheeky trifle, and then, when you least expect it, lowers the boom. full review

Hal Hinson, Washington Post

full review by Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Weekly