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The Grifters

The Grifters

1990
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 50m
When small-time cheat Roy Dillon (Cusack) winds up in the hospital following an unsuccessful scam, it sets up a confrontation between his estranged mother Lilly (Huston) and sexy girlfriend Myra (Bening). Both Lilly and Myra are ruthless confidence artists playing the con game in a league far above Roy ... and always looking for their next victim. The question soon becomes who's conning who as Roy finds himself caught in a complicated web of passion and mistrust. (Miramax)
Your probable score
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The Grifters

1990
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 50m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 56.13% from 911 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(911)
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Rated 19 Nov 2015
4
35th
Poor direction. Felt like this was really good on paper but doesn't translate well to screen at all. The climax isn't as shocking as it wants to be and the story gets pretty stale at times. Besides Huston, who was fantastic, it seemed like everyone else was miscast. Had some great Annette Bening nude scenes and a few scenes in the beginning were really well done but overall not worth seeing.
Rated 13 Aug 2011
60
36th
The film can't decide if it's a neo-noir, a true noir lifted right out of the 50s with the added rauchiness of an R-rating, or just a drama about some con artists, and that hurts the development of characters and themes, like the coalescence of the female leads. Also, Cusack turns in a terrible performance, when he's not playing himself he's a caricature of a hard-boiled type, complete with the vocal affectation.
Rated 08 Sep 2008
31
20th
You want to like this, what with all the talent on display, but it doesn't really work. Looks good but is lumpy, ill-formed and somewhat forgettable.
Rated 26 Jan 2015
73
49th
A movie where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole - I could probably watch all 3 leads pull cons all day (and there's plenty of that, both through visual cues only and some excellent little story-flashback scenes) but the actual plot of the film kinda jerks around, spending a lot of time setting up for a swift and crushing end - though then again what better way to express the feeling of being had by a grifter in the first place? Nice wee piece of noir, with an awkwardly young Cusack,
Rated 26 Feb 2007
60
62nd
Good film.
Rated 09 Apr 2007
55
52nd
Starts off a bit dry, after a while you get used to dryness and oldfashioned way it roams about. Halfway through the movie, it gets more insightful about the unlikeable but well-sketched characters and becomes worthwhile.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
52
7th
I don't think this movie really went anywhere. Has a few good turns, but in the end I just didn't care.
Rated 23 Apr 2008
88
90th
Deliciously hard-boiled, with outstanding production design, and fantastic performances from the three leads. A career best for Cusack.
Rated 29 Jul 2009
74
75th
Benning annoys me, as usual, but it has a certain charm.
Rated 13 Jan 2010
77
19th
It's amusing, but there doesn't seem to be much of a plot.
Rated 03 Jan 2011
50
24th
I felt it was an impossibility I would not love this, but well... Been a while since I saw it, but I remember huge disappointment, like, I didn't even like it. Maybe needs a rewatch.
Rated 26 Jan 2012
36
30th
Question: How can you make a good movie about grifting without some kind of plot swerve? Answer: You can't. It's akin to playing a football game without calling any pass plays. Sure, you can do it, but the result is boring & nowhere near as entertaining & fulfilling as it could have been
Rated 10 Feb 2012
71
49th
What is a seemingly "light" noir-ish film, turns absolutely nasty as the screen is aglow with Huston. The other leads are good, but it is Huston that shines. However, a movie about cons, without a con itself, feels a bit empty.
Rated 02 Nov 2014
35
19th
I have no good things to say about this vapid neo-noir melodrama. It's stale, crude, and the stars don't impress.
Rated 20 Oct 2019
30
15th
I didn't like it. Not a lot of grifts or cons. Some setups without payoffs, such as Bobo's relationship with Huston. Predictable motel sequence that they felt the need to explain. Bad script/lines with suspenseful music that didn't match the bright scenes. Good performances by Huston and Bening and they could have spent more time together. Fav scene: burn by Bening re: Huston's age.
Rated 14 Apr 2007
90
86th
Character study of a whole subculture of thoroughly loathsome human beings. Fascinating
Rated 14 Aug 2007
45
34th
A very long time since I saw this, but my recollection is that it didn't work for me. While other viewers clearly delighted in some of the characters, my memory is that I didn't find them all that interesting.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
83
82nd
Annette Bening has an incredible body and she shows every inch of it. john Cusack is excellent. Toss in Morticia Adams-not the real one mind you and you have a solid caper movie
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
84th
It doesn't feel like "updated" noir, it feels like the genre never died. Except for the nudity, a couple of f-bombs and the very direct allusions to incest, the film would be right at home among those of the 40's and 50's. It all works very nicely, coalescing into a gripping tale of desperate, broken people on the make. Neither Cusack nor Bening seems quite right for their roles, but Huston is wonderful, as are many of the character actors, and it's a fantastic script with some amazing scenes.
Rated 23 Aug 2007
86
88th
very good
Rated 17 Sep 2007
80
89th
very solid modern noir
Rated 22 Nov 2007
81
78th
null
Rated 17 May 2008
85
72nd
Nasty nasty nasty people. Great movie.
Rated 31 May 2009
61
70th
Yeah, see that was when i knew Popeye or at least when i knew he wasn't feeling well
Rated 02 Jul 2009
85
75th
No character is as competent as they think they are in this story. It's a real downer, but worth watching once.
Rated 27 Jul 2009
80
70th
A very interesting form of narrative used. Anjelica Huston gives the absolute best performance of her career.
Rated 27 Jan 2010
90
83rd
A nasty film, but a very good one. John Cusack and Angelica Huston are fine.
Rated 08 Feb 2010
75
54th
Underrated performance by Cusack and Huston.
Rated 08 Sep 2010
85
89th
This thoroughly engrossing neo-noir thriller boasts a tight script with some of the most deliciously twisted characters and pitch perfect acting from both Huston and Bening.
Rated 08 Oct 2010
99
78th
Frears' best American-set film.
Rated 01 Jan 2011
88
66th
Huston gives one of her very best performances as a strong lady who can con almost everyone but herself. Her manner on the screen in this picture and in Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors'' marks Huston as the one contemporary actress who comes closest to having the power of classic female dramatic stars of years past.
Rated 24 Mar 2011
86
74th
Set in the sunlit, but definitively noir Los Angeles underworld, this powerful drama depicts a shadowy landscape that is unmistakably the creation of pulp writer Jim Thompson whose novel is the source for this quirky excursion into scamming, suspicion, sex, and seduction. Frears and Westlake have negotiated this malevolent mine field with high style, taut suspense, and black humor. The entire cast is perfect especially Huston, Cusack, and Bening. Produced by Martin Scorsese.
Rated 18 Apr 2011
50
23rd
average
Rated 13 Sep 2011
60
37th
Must rewatch.
Rated 05 Oct 2013
80
64th
80.000
Rated 12 Apr 2014
81
82nd
This movie has a good script and an original storyline. The three leads are all excellent in this movie. The acting compliments the good screenplay. I would definitely recommend this film.
Rated 02 Oct 2014
71
43rd
nice noir feel but somewhat blunt
Rated 15 May 2015
87
80th
The con is skimming - greed that goes deadly
Rated 20 Jul 2015
2
21st
There's nothing here that compels me to care. The melodrama is contrived, the characters are unmotivated, the visuals are flat. Everyone seems miscast. The language is heightened but not particularly well-written. In a word: boring.
Rated 17 Sep 2019
60
36th
Some of the acting was not good, and the ending was not satisfying.
Rated 10 Nov 2019
60
58th
ger; [the grifters]; ein kleinkrimineller landet nach einem betrug im krankenhaus - doch sein leben wird durch die begegnung seiner mutter und seiner freundin zu einem komplizierten netz von betrug, misstrauen und verlangen.; (abruptes ende);
Rated 15 Mar 2020
62
61st
Very period.
Rated 23 Apr 2020
89
86th
A truly great film noir, wonderful acting and a tremendous script.
Rated 23 Sep 2021
70
19th
Viewed September 12, 2021. I like that the movie is more of a character piece without a strong narrative throughline, especially because these characters are so interesting, the dialogue is sharp and the performances are all good, especially Bening's ambiguously cheery work. But Stephen Frears' direction might be too unfocused to make sense of the narrative's more outre developments, and it just never seems to reach the highs I was hoping for.
Rated 11 Feb 2022
65
34th
Lacks identity and feels like several more scenes were filmed to supplement secondary plot lines, but were scrapped for time. Chalk that up to poor editing and directing (I have no idea why Frears or Westlake were nominated for Oscars). Huston and Bening are pretty great, but wasted. Cusack feels totally miscast, playing a throw-back noir character in a world that doesn't match that energy. A good movie probably could be salvaged from all the original footage, but alas, that's not what we got.
Rated 12 Sep 2023
90
88th
It's a real throwback to a kind of extremely bleak post-war crime fiction where nobody is good and nothing works out for anybody. ... and it's fucking great. All three leads do superb work, and they are supported by an amazing supporting cast that includes Stephen Tobolowsky, Henry Jones, Xander Berkeley, J.T. Walsh and Charles Napier.
Rated 23 Oct 2023
6
53rd
Huston is good but the rest isn't, especially the script.
Rated 04 Nov 2023
60
35th
Very uneven for -- a noir, a thriller, whatever this was. Huston was the star power here (with a too-short appearance by Hingle). I guess I was expecting a real shock of an ending, and it kind of fizzled as the characters did.
Rated 04 Jan 2024
71
46th
Entertaining, pulpy neo-noir with some surprises. It didn't necessarily all work for me, and I felt it lost its way slightly at times, but it's mostly entertaining and has some solid performances, especially from Bening, who seemed a bit annoying at first but as her character comes into focus what she's doing becomes more clear.

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