It is impossible not to fall in love with the heroes of films about swindlers and scammers, it is impossible not to empathize with them and it is impossible not to wish that they succeed in deception, theft, winning a casino or robbing a bank. What if they are usually cute and charming monsters.
If you are unlucky once and again, and again, this does not mean that you have ordered to go all-in. As a rule, the best heroes of films about swindlers and scammers do just that. And how great they are when they carry out their masterly plans! Especially when their scams and fraud are driven not just by a banal thirst for profit, but by a noble goal - revenge for a friend, the return of lost love or the restoration of justice. Needless to say, since the time of Robin Hood, noble crooks have been the weakness of women's hearts and the secret desire of men.
Classics of the genre
"The Sting" (directed by George Roy Hill, 1973) - in this film one of the best roles was played by the magnificent Robert Radford. Here he is organically beautiful, as befits one of the greatest film swindlers. In The Scam, young Radford is so sincere, so incredibly awkward and at the same time dexterous that it is a pleasure to watch him, together with the equally great Paul Newman, turn a scam-revenge on one of America's worst mafiosi.
Vabank and Vabank 2 (Vabank, directed by Juliusz Machulski, 1981, 1984) is an amazing crime comedy. It is also based on revenge, and also for a friend. Restoring justice, the hero of the film (played by Jan Machulski) - a talented violinist, no less talented bear-bug and a charming man, cleverly builds traps for his enemy, playing on the most obvious, but no less curious human weaknesses. By the way, he does it to one of the best soundtracks of the 80s. The ease and speed of reaction with which the heroes turn an ingenious intrigue is mesmerizing. And it is gratifying that the sequel, filmed by Juliusz Machulski for his father Jan Machulski, is in no way inferior to the previous story, which is wonderful in itself.
"Rounders" (Rounders, directed by John Dahl, 1998) - is it possible, if you have a unique criminal talent, to "quit" and become an ordinary lawyer? The hero of the movie "Sharpshooter" (played by Matt Damon) tried very hard to acquire a new profession and say goodbye to the old one, but … Yes. An old friend returns from prison, who cannot be helped. Yes, and the hero himself recently went too far and lost all his savings. So the motivation for a huge win in a big and real game, with real rivals and the choice between play and death, leaves him no choice.
“Catch Me If You Can” (directed by Steven Spielberg, 2002) is one of the conditions for the success of someone who once decided to become a professional fraudster - the ability to mimic. The hero of the film "Catch Me If You Can" (performed by Leonardo DiCaprio) has been generously endowed by nature with just such an exceptional gift. A cute young man, a fledgling sucker who has not experienced either first love or first sexual experience, does not know life, but possesses extraordinary observation and feels people as some tenth - bestial? - by instinct I accidentally discovered in myself the talent to become whoever he wants. He easily turns into an experienced pilot, then a doctor, or an assistant prosecutor. No less easily and ingeniously, he forges bank documents and manages to get indecently rich before adulthood, and, at the same time, almost wipe his nose to an FBI agent (played by Tom Hanks). For the time being. After all, even the most successful of all kinds of swindlers has his own Achilles heel.
Ocean of charisma
Movie scammers are always the funniest, coolest handsome men with a wonderful sense of humor. Almost all of them are smart, not always lucky, but always monstrously attractive. The numerical superiority of just such scammers and swindlers per square millimeter of film, with each new film about Danny Ocean and his friends, is invincible: Danny Ocean is just a very good friend.
Ocean's Eleven (directed by Steven Soderberg, 2001), Ocean's Twelve (directed by Steven Soderberg, 2004), Ocean's Thirteen (directed by Steven Soderbergh, 2007) - however many the most charming Danny (performed by George Clooney) did not have friends about each of them, we can say - he is unique. Of course, these macho men will always have in the first place the nobility of the ultimate goal: the return of a beloved woman, revenge for a friend or help him. But beautifully, with special chic designed noble robbery of one, and then the second super-protected casinos or the abduction of a Faberge egg, look with particular interest when it is committed by exclusively sexy characters.
"Trance" (Trance, directed by Danny Boyle, 2013) - it is difficult to imagine a more complicated and ramified plot. The hero of the film (played by James McAvoy) will in an incredible way get out of all the troubles that have fallen on him, which will be pulled after him, tied in loops with an invisible hook. Loop-hook, loop-hook: theft of a painting, murder, pursuit, pursuit, meeting with a woman - the love of his life … In one day the hero will survive as much as many do not have time for centuries. But what will he choose in the finale - the opportunity to forget this crazy day and run away from himself or?..
"The illusion of deception" (Now You See Me, directed by Louis Leterrier, 2013) - no one has ever committed more than a scam at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Such a plan, which the heroes of the film managed to carry out, could have occurred to an exceptionally gifted swindler and / or magician. Or both at the same time. And only a single team of superheroes could do it. Yes, once again the familiar motivation is at the heart of the scam plot - the restoration of justice. And this time it was performed extremely effectively and beautifully. This was worthy of the one for whom his son avenged - the brain center of the operation, who brought together four magicians. Separately, they did not represent much of themselves, but gathered together and learned to work in a team, they were able to reveal their talents to the fullest - brightly, beautifully and spectacularly. Together they became a crushing force capable of conquering tens and hundreds of thousands of viewers at once.
Swindlers and crooks are the most attractive heroes of the film industry. They combine everything that women like so much and so attracts men: intelligence and a sense of humor. Even the most unlucky of them - absolute losers - have a mania that is difficult to resist. Otherwise, how could they commit scams, right? Only love makes a swindler vulnerable. Although … It's impossible not to fall in love with them …
