The Grifters
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Metascore
86 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 18 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 13 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening, John Cusack
  • Summary: When small-time cheat Roy Dillon (Cusack) winds up in the hospital following an unsuccessful scam, it sets up a confrontation between his estranged mother Lilly (Huston) and sexy girlfriend Myra (Bening). Both Lilly and Myra are ruthless confidence artists playing the con game in a league far above Roy ... and always looking for their next victim. The question soon becomes who's conning who as Roy finds himself caught in a complicated web of passion and mistrust. (Miramax)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    The performances are all insidiously powerful.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: John Stone
    100
    [Frears] has not only captured the bleak qualities of the old film noir melodramas but supplied an undercurrent that is as sly as it is unsettling. [25 Jan 1991]
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  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    80
    Westlake's screenplay has the right combination of vivid characters, mordant wit and avaricious savagery which distinguishes the best noir.
  4. Empire
    Reviewed by: Adrienne Scott
    60
    The simmering implication of incestuous emotions between Lili and Roy, leading to the shocking denouement, is badly underdeveloped and mishandled, leaving a lingering sense of anti-climax.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. lasttimeisaw
    7
    An indie crime-drama fixes on a veiled Oedipus complex relationship between a mother and his son, which also involves another pivotal figure, the son's femme fatale girlfriend. One background consensus is that they are all grifters, while the mother is an old-hander, the girlfriend is a slutty self-seeker, they are pros, bar the son is just a small-time crook and being too righteous to go down with the swindle business, what… Expand

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