The Grifters (1990)

Directed by

Stephen Frears

Genre

drama film, film noir, heist film, crime film, neo-noir

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 50m

Rated

R

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 478 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A con artist mother reunites with her estranged son who is also a small-time swindler. His girlfriend is a clever scam artist herself. The three of them get tangled in a dangerous and twisted game of deceit and betrayal.

tensebleaksuspensefulatmosphericdarkly comicgrittyslow-burnemotionally coldedgy

What happens

The Grifters is a 1990 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Stephen Frears, produced by Martin Scorsese, and starring John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and Annette Bening. The film follows a lifelong con artist (Huston) who reunites with her estranged son (Cusack) and, along with his girlfriend (Bening), becomes embroiled in a complex web of criminal activity. The screenplay by Donald E. Westlake was adapted from Jim Thompson's 1963 novel. The Grifters premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 1990, and was released by Miramax Films in the United States on December 5, 1990. Huston and Bening both received Academy Award nominations for their performances in the film, while Huston also garnered a Golden Globe Award nomination, and Bening, a BAFTA Award nomination. Frears received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, and Westlake for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and was named one of the Top 10 films of 1990 by the National Board of Review. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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