Criminal

One question that always pop in my mind whenever Hollywood tries to remake a foreign film that was successful is: Why? In most cases, the end result is disastrous; it never compares with the original movie and why spend money in something that has already been done, better.

The movie in question here is the Argentine surprise film of last year, "9 Queens". In it, Fabian Belinsky, its director, was able to give us an original story, a caper, that was well executed and brilliantly acted; it was a pleasure to watch.

Not to put this movie down, but it suffers in comparison. Gregory Jacobs, the director, has adapted the story to present day Los Angeles and the story hasn't changed at all. The memory of the other movie was still vivid in our minds, so there was no surprise with this one.

The acting is good in general. John C. Reilly makes the con man Richard Gaddis perfectly slimy. Diego Luna brings a nice balance to his role, and Maggie Gillenhaal is excellent as the long suffering sister.

If you haven't seen the original, this version works fine.

Con-man Richard (John C. Reilly) enlists Mexican petty thief Rodrigo (Diego Luna) as his new temporary partner, and soon they are engaged in a huge scam involving counterfeit money, being helped along by Richard's skeptical sister Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

In 'Criminal' you soon learn not to believe ANYTHING you see! It is an object lesson in distrust, but an engaging and wonderfully entertaining one. Who is going to f... whom over, that's what it is all about. Richard conned his two younger siblings out of their share of the inheritance after their mother, but he whines and bitches at every turn, and he proves himself to be both antisemitic and anti-black. When once again he has tried to cheat his new partner out of his cut, he exclaims, "What's with the raped-virgin look?". Richard is a terrible, terrible person, a thoroughly rotten apple who believes that "F...ing, that's when you're handcuffed on the pavement". Anything short of that he can deal with, squirming like a worm. Of his victims he says, "I don't feel anything for them. They're marks. Some of them are dumber than f ... pets!". John C. Reilly is very good in the part, although I found myself longing for just one other color on the palette, just some surprise, something not too predictable.

He says to Rodrigo, "You got something that money and practice can't buy, you look like a nice guy", and Diego Luna (the 'other' guy from 'And You Mother Too', alongside Gabriel García Bernal) has a puppy-dog appeal that works like a charm. He has genuine, unforced charm and is cuddly at all times.

Obviously, if you have watched 'The Sting' or films like the great French caper 'Les ripoux' ('My New Partner', 1984), 'Criminal' will offer you nothing new or sensational. It does have a really nice feel to it, though, taking its leisurely time to get rolling, enabling us to get to know these people. Or so we think ...

7/10

Lovers of the grifter genre - you will love this one most of all. It earns a 9 out of 10 from yours truly. Sincerely. Sure, I'm biased for the genre.

But this one has the style of a low budget 'Sting' with a story line on par with Steve Martin's 'The Spanish Prisoner'.

Grifter movies rely on competent, likable con men and women, gullible marks and a logical plot. The audience can be(come) the mark, as can the cons themselves. That's why this genre yanks me in … and why it entertains so well. I am (you are) the detective. Figure out what's going on before they tell you: That's the ame. I'm a cynic by nature and I'm always equal to the task.

Now this one - I couldn't figure it all out before they revealed it. What they reveal is worth the wait and meandering through the story. I doubt you'll piece it all together either. Therein lies how it earned its 9.

The plot works. Oh . . . and "Cut to the chase' will never be the same after you see how "Criminal" cuts to it. It's brilliant and timed with perfection. It's something you'd expect from the likes of Spike Lee.

Sorry to be oblique here; but if I tell you any more, the ending would be exposed. The last two minutes tell all - and the first 85 are every bit as entertaining and important. John C. Reilly, Diego Luna and Maggie Gyllenhaal are worth the admission price. Superb, all! See it. Tonight!

This first scene of this film contained more action than the rest of this rather tedious, bland remake of a recent Argentine film (which I have not seen.) There was virtually no chemistry between the two leads, Reilly and Luna. Sad sack Reilly, despite a decent performance, was miscast as the professional con man and Gyllenhaal was wasted in a minor role as Reilly's sister. Luna gave the best performance in the film as the young protégé. Scottish actor Peter Mullan played the "mark," a streetsmart "Irish" billionaire whose accent slipped from Scot to Irish every other line! By the time the surprise ending rolled around I didn't care who were the good guys, who were bad guys nor the motivations of either. The screenplay, although illogical and far-fetched, included a few good lines but I don't know if they were translated from the original film or written especially for this remake. Luckily, I saw this film at a screening and didn't have to shell out $10 for a ticket!

After sitting through the world premiere of "Criminal", I spent the whole movie trying to remember where I had seen this script before, and then the credits mention that it was adapted from the script of a great British film called "Nine Queens", which was out only a few years ago.

Except for exchanging a postage stamp for a rare currency bill, there is no originality in this adapted screenplay. Similar to the remake of "Psycho", if you are going to film a scene-for-scene remake, then why do it?

I can only hope that this movie causes people to seek out the original "Nine Queens", so that it gets the recognition it deserves in America.

It's truly sad that the first film from someone who has worked for years as an assistant director couldn't be something more innovative, original, or unique.