The Sting

The Sting (1973), directed by George Roy Hill

Con games are a staple of the cinema. The sight of two strong minds attempting to match each other, but one getting fleeced in the end can be enthralling. The trouble is, since confidence games take place mostly inside the minds of the participants, they are difficult to portray onscreen. At their worst, they end up like the film version of Maverick, where many of the cons are tossed into the film and revealed at the end in order to have a "surprise" ending. We are cheated by not getting to see the machinations of the cons. At their cinematic best, cons are like those in House of Games: tools in the plot for getting something desired. A good film con is eminently watchable at all stages of unfolding. The sneakiest directors let us think we are in on the game, but then pull a fast one on us.

The Sting varies between the two extremes. It is not a searing portrayal of confidence men, but it is still more than a movie ruthlessly calculated to be entertaining. Not much more, though. Of course it is a follow-up to the highly profitable Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which had previously united Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Here, it is Redford who gets the leading role (and the only acting Oscar nomination of his career). He is Johnny Hooker, a small-time hustler who accidentally gets his hands on money belonging to gangster Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). Hooker, after seeing his partner get murdered, flees in search of Henry Gondorff, a legendary con artist.

Gondorff (Newman) is actually washed-up, but eventually agrees to put together a con with Hooker to sap Lonnegan of a fortune. Gondorff begins by fleecing the gangster in a railway poker game. Eventually, to get the big money, Gondorff and his associates (including such enjoyable character actors as Harold Gould and Ray Walston) put together a massive scheme involving fake betting offices and Western Union agents. The plot thickens with the arrival of a nasty detective (eternal cop Charles Durning) chasing Hooker.

It's obvious how the film must end: it's only partially disappointing that so much attention is laid on the machinations of the confidence men instead of the men themselves. Why are these con men going after Lonnegan? Revenge. Lots of money. Big deal! While there is little characterization from the stars, however, they wtill remain very charismatic.

Still, very enjoyable: The Sting occurs right around the time that Newman switched to "old man" roles. Around age 50, he realized he couldn't be the young hero forever, so he practiced his "lovable curmudgeon" persona. Redford has never been more than a decent actor, but he is amiable enough here. Robert Shaw is a great villain, hulking and menacing, just as he would be a couple of years later in Jaws. An irreplaceable performer, he is sorely missed today.

The Sting does show why it is better to let the audience in on the secret in the first place: the machinations are then there, ready to be enjoyed, rather than simple plot contrivances, surprises to be revealed at the end. There is one putative "surprise" which is unmasked at film's end. All but the most simpleminded should have figured it out beforehand, anyway.

It is said that this movie marked a Scott Joplin renaissance. It certainly must be said that Marvin Hamlisch's arrangements of these ragtime works represent one the most memorable and unmistakable movie scores of the 70's.

The Sting is not remembered fondly by all critics: in an era of taut drama and harrowing film performances, the decade of Coppola, De Niro, Scorsese, and Pacino, The Sting was a throwback to some of the more empty-headed 60's period films. Such a comparison is somewhat unfair, however. While The Sting does have little more than pure entertainment value, it certainly doesn't rank with some of the past, bloated efforts that had found their respective ways onscreen in the previous decade. In any case, from time to time, there must be some room for pure entertainment.

Three-and-a-half stars