The Grifters
The Grifters Image
See the trailer
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

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • 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]
    All this publication's reviews
  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

Write a Review
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

See all 5 User Reviews

Trailers

Current Movie Releases

Full List »
  1. Star Trek Into Darkness
    User Score 8.0
  2. The Great Gatsby
    User Score 7.6
  3. Evil Dead (2013)
    User Score 7.6
  4. 42
    User Score 7.3
  5. Oblivion
    User Score 7.1
  6. Iron Man 3
    User Score 6.6
  7. Pain & Gain
    User Score 6.6
  8. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
    User Score 5.5
  9. The Host
    User Score 4.6
  10. The Big Wedding
    User Score 3.7
  11. Scary Movie 5
    User Score 2.7
  12. Tyler Perry's Temptation
    User Score 2.1
All Current Movies »