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The Sting

post #1 of 9
8/18/10 at 8:33am
Thread Starter 
Such a classy piece of entertainment, this would make a great double feature with 'The Brothers Bloom', Bob Redford really was the Brad Pitt of his day, he's in full-on Redford mode here, just charming the pants off everyone. Paul Newman matches him with his own brand of charisma, those blue eyes light up the screen.

The film is littered with great character actors, from Charles Durning to Eileen Brennan to Ray Walston.

What I really love are the character beats with Marvin Hamlisch's wonderful score evoking the depression era, Hooker getting his hands and nails done and refusing until he sees the girl doing it, she's not impressed. Hooker sitting alone at night watching the diner and contemplating going up to her room, it's just wonderfully done.

I know Butch Cassidy is the more well loved film but I think this is a great entertaining movie.
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post #2 of 9
8/18/10 at 10:59am
I watched them both recently for the first time and this trumps Butch Cassidy easily.

It's just a perfect example of class cinema. Shaw is simple amazing.
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post #3 of 9
8/18/10 at 11:06am
Shaw is the MVP here. Redford and Newman need a good foil to work against and Shaw really delivers the goods.

I also agree that this is better and more entertaining than 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'...for some reason, THAT film has just never connected with me.
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post #4 of 9
8/18/10 at 1:36pm
In the wake of Butch Cassidy (one of my alltime favorites, and one of the first really "grown up" films my folks took me to see), I honestly felt The Sting to be a bit slow and bloated, but when I rewatched it on TV a few years later, I felt more sympathetic to it. I still think it's too long and not half as crafty as it thinks it is (let's face it, the success of the "sting" doesn't depend on cleverness so much as it does having a lot of resources to pull it off), but Shaw's great, the decor and design are all first-rate, and as a way of re-introducing the music of Scott Joplin to a wider audience, it provided perhaps the only justification for the existence of Marvin Hamlisch.
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post #5 of 9
8/18/10 at 1:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
In the wake of Butch Cassidy (one of my alltime favorites, and one of the first really "grown up" films my folks took me to see), I honestly felt The Sting to be a bit slow and bloated, but when I rewatched it on TV a few years later, I felt more sympathetic to it. I still think it's too long and not half as crafty as it thinks it is (let's face it, the success of the "sting" doesn't depend on cleverness so much as it does having a lot of resources to pull it off), but Shaw's great, the decor and design are all first-rate, and as a way of re-introducing the music of Scott Joplin to a wider audience, it provided perhaps the only justification for the existence of Marvin Hamlisch.
This reminds me of the fact that I still owe you a re-watch (and possible re-assessment) of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'.
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post #6 of 9
8/18/10 at 1:48pm
Definitely.

"Rules-- in a knife fight??"
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post #7 of 9
8/18/10 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
it provided perhaps the only justification for the existence of Marvin Hamlisch.
The Informant says you're wrong.
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post #8 of 9
8/18/10 at 9:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
Definitely.

"Rules-- in a knife fight??"
Oh god Judas - do it.

Butch and Sundance is just about one of my favourite films of all time, but The Sting is a damn fun ride at the cinemas. Newman and Redford still have the crackling chemistry, even if the power dynamic between the two is significantly different than their first time pairing up, and Shaw really does make the most fantastic foil for them to bounce off. Newmans 'drunken' card game is the best scene in the whole movie I reckon.

There's a reason that Newman and Redford are considered one of the great film acting pair-ups even tho they only did two films together - and it's not just because of the western they did first. The Sting really is a seriously good movie and still the template for the Oceans films and any other great con movies of the last few decades.
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post #9 of 9
8/19/10 at 6:56am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rain Dog View Post
Newmans 'drunken' card game is the best scene in the whole movie I reckon.
"Mr. Shaw we usually require a tie at this table, if ya don't have one we can get ya one" "Eeeey, that'd be real nice Mr. Lonneman" "Lonnegan" *Burp*

Newman plays that scene so well.
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