SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

christopher-underwood Very good film with great performances from Anjelica Houston and John Cusack. But then being biased upon a book by Jim Thompson and scripted by Donald E Westlake it has a lot going for it even before you are aware of Martin Scorsese as a producer. Not sure why it is not better known or more loved but this is probably because it does not feature the male mob boys up front and but instead seeming smaller bit part players (and two women at that). The dialogue is wonderful, snappy , exciting and believable and if things are a bit confusing at the start, not helped by some unnecessary split screen gimmickry, once things get going and we stop worrying about the intricacies of betting odds, sit back and enjoy the fast moving, albeit wordy, action. Great fun - oh but a bit violent too!

dvc5159 This is one mean movie. It seduces, wraps your arms around you, and they guts you and leaves you stunned. Directed with striking precision and focus by Stephen Frears ("Philomena", "The Queen"), and written by Donald E. Westlake, one of the literary princes of crime fiction, and based off pulp author Jim Thompson's pulpy novel, in a manner so intricate with detail, so hardboiled that it cracks under the weight of each step it takes, one twist of the knife after another.It's all too good to be true for this neo-noir, even when Martin Scorsese's producing it. Then comes the actors – and my word, are they fantastic in their roles – John Cusack is sly yet undeterred in a role that is a slightly more edgier variation on Humphrey Bogart, with a cross of Lee Marvin, to boot; Annette Bening is simply drop-dead sexy as the woman who thinks she knows it all, yet is a timebomb waiting to explode. The real star of the show is Angelica Huston in a well-deserved Oscar nominated performance, perfectly balancing the ruthless, desperate act with a honest, focused, motherly concern that doesn't feel cliché at all.Who knew modern day, sunny Los Angeles and Phoenix can be the backdrop of so seedy a neo-noir, perhaps the best since Chinatown? Frears, Huston, Cusack, Bening, Westlake, cinematographer Oliver Stapleton and composer Elmer Bernstein deserve all the praise they can get for creating something so seedy yet starkly beautiful in retrospect.

mnpollio Critics invented new words to over-praise this melodrama set in the world of con artists. It tries hard to be a modern day film noir, but has neither the depth nor the range to be considered a success.John Cusack is a small time con artist (or grifter). He has a rocky relationship with his big-time grifter mother Anjelica Huston, who has taken an instant dislike to his floozy girlfriend Annette Bening. Bening is also a grifter and has been prodding Cusack to trade in his small time ways for more big time cons. When the women start a war with each other, Cusack finds himself in the middle.There are so many things that do not work in this film it is hard to know where to begin. First and foremost, would probably be the depiction of the cons. None of them are especially imaginative or convincing - that is when we can follow them. Huston is depicted as a seasoned con artist and her scams - as well as we can follow it - are at least semi-possible. What is not credible is that an old pro like herself would in turn be scamming her boss - organized crime - in such a stupid way that is so easy to uncover. Given that this development sets the action of the latter part of the film in motion, we need to believe that Huston is capable of this degree of stupidity and it just does not fit right with her icy, manipulative character. Cusack's cons are neither entertaining or especially memorable. And Bening's cons basically revolve around her stripping and having sex with anything that moves...that's it. We are supposed to believe that beneath her squeaky voice and dumb blond demeanor that she is really a smart cookie, but her cons require no intelligence and basically require her to act like a tart - end of story. For a film centering on cons, one would think the film could do better.We need some reason to be embroiled in these people. None of them are especially interesting in themselves. Huston is all tough bravado as some kind of insidious dark Madonna, but she is not particularly compelling and never sympathetic. When her boss threatens to beat her to death, Huston's odd choice to suddenly give her character a stutter to indicate fright seems a showy affectation applied by an actress rather than genuine fear experienced by someone afraid to die. Bening never progresses her character beyond that of a rather dim bimbo, who throws a hissy fit when she doesn't get her way. She tries to instigate Huston's death and then tries to assassinate her herself based almost solely on the fact that Huston indicated her disdain of her dating her son. Her reactions seem just a bit out of proportion, even within the parameters of film noir, where emotions are allowed to be a bit heightened.Also, the casting of Cusack is a misfire. He comes off as such a lightweight here. He is not convincing as a con artist and he never seems a match for the women in the film. His romantic pairing with Bening elicits no sparks - acting-wise or sexually. The extended sequence where the fully clothed Cusack hungrily chases a fully naked Bening around the room saying naughty things to her before throwing her over his shoulder so that her bare butt gets the kind of camera treatment that actresses used to demand for their good sides generates more derisive titters than heat. Additionally, some of the latter moments in the film try to exploit some latent incestuous notes that are supposed to be present between Cusack and Huston. The problem is that we sense no such thing before the film pulls such a suggestion out of its butt crack. Worse, when the film explicitly directs us to look for these hints, Cusack's performance still doesn't convey them. Cusack seems completely incapable of generating chemistry with either actress and lacks the hard edge required for a career con artist.The final confrontation in the film does feature a moment of unexpected, shocking violence. Unfortunately, while I was momentarily surprised, it had no lasting emotional impact on me whatsoever. This is probably due to the fact that the characters in this melodrama seem more like plot contrivances that are moved around at the behest of scene directions than actual living beings that interact organically. I would also be remiss in not noting that the final shots in the film of a character descending in an elevator seem a direct rip-off of the final moments from The Maltese Falcon - a far better production that this film will never be confused with.

TheLittleSongbird From Stephen Frears comes The Grifters, a highly colourful and riveting film noir. Frears' direction is superb, with smooth shifts between the audacious scams, the sudden violence and the intense rivalry between the characters. The film looks very stylish not just in the cinematography but also in the scenery, editing and costumes. The Grifters also benefits from a cracking, well-paced story and superb writing that is both witty and intense. When it comes to the film's acting, it is very good. Except that John Cusack comes across as rather bland and lightweight. Cusack aside, both Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening deliver power-house performances, and out of a terrific supporting cast JT Walsh and Charles Napier particularly impress. All in all, a wonderful film that succeeds in pretty much all areas. 9/10 Bethany Cox