Review of The Sting (1973) by David L — 24 Aug 2014

The score, the anecdotes, the layered plot lines, the editing, the direction, the look and the acting all fit together perfectly. Romanticizing the grifter against wonderful backdrops of the thirties in Chicago the story begins immediately with a true old con played out on a loaded mark. The sap turns out to be connected and our protaganist is in danger. With a local police man, the mob, and the FBI on the scent Redford and Newman seek revenge for their assassinated friend and con man patriarch. The con men are trustworthy to their own and a code of honor among that crew is a framework for this gem of a film while everyone else from the politicians to the cops are corrupt.

The scenes are all pieces of a wonderful puzzle that fit together in logical merging stories by the finale. The coherency of these merging subplots and anecdotes is one of the reasons The Sting stands above other movies of its type. Redford and Newman are great together. There are so many stand out scenes that I won't begin to mention them. The dialogue is excellent and the script is much better than it is given credit for by some critics. "I don't even know you." "You know me. I'm just like you. It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody.".

Every few years I watch this film again worried that the puzzle doesn't actually fit together as well as I remembered it, but it fits every time. Even knowing all the tricks, it is still sublime falling into this cinematic escape.

To the naysayers: The movie is not too long. In fact the timing of this film is part of its genius. It's one of a handful of movies I've seen where I don't want to edit anything out. The Joplin score is lovingly interwoven into the film and the chapter headings break up the film like a good book.