The Sting (1973)

Synopsis: Back in the day, there were only two sure things in life, women and money. Those two things got you everything else. In John Hooker's (Robert Redford) life, he never had any problem getting those things but he always had a problem keepin' 'em. Hooker is a fast talking, smooth sailing con man and he's made a living off the streets. But when his partner, Luther, decides to call it quits, Hooker needs to leave his small pond and explore the bigger con. That's where he meets Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) who's a old time con guy with a dark past. Well, don't they all. Shit hits the fan when Luther bites the dust propelling Hooker into a huge con to not only settle the score against Luther's killer, but also to set himself straight as well as give Gondorff some closure. It's a light hearted affair though where the stakes are high but the fun is even higher. All you need is some confidence!

Should You Watch It? This might be the first con film that does it well and on a big scale. The job is big, the cast is big, and the overall experience is big and satisfying but this film manages to keep everything light-hearted with plenty of humour along the way. Overall, the experience is rewarding because it's simple and everyone should be able to catch on to what they did to pull off the job. Sorry for ruining that part, come on! you knew they were gonna do it! haha

Things to Watch Out For: I usually have a problem with the music and sound effects in these old films not because they suck. Well, they do, but I mean for that time they were probably pretty good. But this film, I had no problem with the music because they took all of Scott Joplin's piano music and put it in there. Not only does it solve a lot of the issues with original music scores back then, it keeps things light as the rag time tunes really give this movie an up beat tone and mood. As for the sound effects, well, Scott Joplin never composed sound effects.

Things You Don't Expect: The only problem I had in this film was the love interest. I won't spoil anything but it doesn't feel natural at all the way it went down. I don't know, I think it might just be me being bitter that Redford can get any girl and I can't get any at all. They use a lot of old school transitions too. They use a whole bunch of wipes ranging from side wipe to page wipes. They also show you each step of the con just so you don't get lost which is helpful for all of us dumb audiences out there.

Final Comments:
Story: 8.0 (David S. Ward)
Direction: 7.0 (George Roy Hill)
Acting: 8.5
Cinematography: 6.8
Music/Sound: 6.8

Final Score: 7.8