Crime

Drama

The Grifters

Cineplex-Odeon Films

Canada

United States of America

English

Anjelica Huston

John Cusack

Annette Bening

Jan Munroe

Robert Weems

Stephen Tobolowsky

Jimmy Noonan

Richard Holden

Henry Jones

Michael Laskin

Eddie Jones

Sandy Baron

Lou Hancock

Gailard Sartain

Noelle Harling

Ivette Soler

Pat Hingle

Paul Adelstein

Jeremy Piven

Gregory Sporleder

David Sinaiko

Jeff Perry

Jon Gries

Micole Mercurio

Charles Napier

J. T. Walsh

Teresa Gilmore

Elizabeth Ann Feeley

Billy Ray Sharkey

Frances Bay

Xander Berkeley

John Gillespie

Juliet Landau

Sy Richardson

Martin Scorsese

Elmer Bernstein

Jim Thompson

Stephen Frears

Donald E. Westlake

Mick Audsley

Oliver Stapleton

Derek Holding

Claire Gaul

Peter Maxwell

Bill Cancienne

Leslie McDonald

Robert Greenfield

Gary Jensen

Joe Camp III

Julie Hewett

Marco Mazzei

Katherine M. Butler

Scott Plauche

Mark Bridges

A. Welch Lambeth

Llewellyn Wells

Cydney Cornell

Cynthia Quan

Ian Wright

Paige Augustine

Kimberly Adams

James Babineaux

J. Stephen Buck

Kathleen M. Courtney

Beth Bernstein

Kant Pan

Joseph Timothy Conway

John Sutton

Rick Dunford

Douglas Fox

Elizabeth Feldbauer

Chris Snyder

Victoria Thomas

Mary Cybulski

Matthew Morrissey

Frank Viviano

Jody Hummer

Jack English

Nancy Haigh

Suzanne Hanover

Bill M. Puluti

Juliet Taylor

Richard Davis Jr.

Jory Weitz

Robert A. Harris

Barbara De Fina

Peggy Rajski

Jim Painter

Richard Hornung

Dennis Gassner

My son is going to be all right. If not, I'll have you killed.

The Grifters is directed by Stephen Frears and adapted to screenplay by Donald E. Westlake from the novel of the same name written by Jim Thompson. It stars Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening. Music is by Elmer Bernstein and cinematography by Oliver Stapleton.

“The best reason I can think of is that you scare the hell out of me. I have seen women like you before, baby. You're double-tough and you are sharp as a razor, and you get what you want or else; but you don't make it work forever. Sooner or later the lightning hits, and I'm not gonna be around when it hits you”

1990 was a grand year for neo-noir, of the dozen + titles that came out that year, The Grifters sits atop of the pile. A superlative film noir that boasts class on the page and on both sides of the camera. Set in modern day Los Angeles, the story follows three cynical and sly con artists through a psychological fog of bluff, double bluff, pain, misery, manipulations and shattering developments. That the trio consists of a boyfriend, girlfriend and an estranged mother only darkens the seamy waters still further.

Los Angeles positively bristles with a smouldering atmosphere thanks to the work of Frears, Bernstein and Stapleton. Sexual tension is ripe, Westlake’s adaptation doing justice to Thompson’s novel, while the three leads – and Pat Hingle in super support – are on fire, bringing complex characters vividly to life as they trawl through the devilishly labyrinthine plot, adding biting humour and shallow savagery into the bargain.

A top draw neo-noir that doesn’t cut corners or pull its punches, from the split screen opening salvo to the pitch black finale, The Grifters delivers high quality for neo-noir fans. 9/10

Best Movies

The Grifters

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Anjelica Huston

John Cusack

Annette Bening

Jan Munroe

Robert Weems

Stephen Tobolowsky

Jimmy Noonan

Richard Holden

Henry Jones

Michael Laskin

Box office

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