The Sting with Lisa Friedrich

Lisa and I scratch our heads through one of the most complicated con movies I've ever seen, stuffed with ancillary characters and antiquated references. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are both compelling to watch -- and Redford does A LOT of sprinting in this movie if that's your thing -- but the real stars are the women. Eileen Brennan brings a casual vamp's charm to the rogue's gallery of con men, and Dimitra Arliss coyly plays a diner waitress who's much more than she appears. Other than that, it's a confusion of fedoras and jumble of motivations. You have to buy the "I climb the mountain because it's there" reasoning for most of the folks to be in on the scheme, because by the time the take gets chopped up, it's minimum wage. Listen to us ramble around this effective but not fully compelling entry that still has "The Entertainer" playing in the background somewhere to this day.

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