Nine Queens
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Movie Reviews of Nine Queens
Movie Review: Two con men meet at a convenience store . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this movie about two con artists wonderfully unpredictable. The script is nicely complex, the characters are cleverly duplicitous, and the plot - compressed into 24 hours - is full of twists, turns, and red herrings that kept me guessing from beginning to end. Part of the unpredictability is not being able to gauge the level of potential menace in the story. At almost any point there's the possibility that all could go terribly wrong.
Director Fabián Bielinsky has very skillfully woven together a cast of believable characters, playing out their roles in the streets and public places of what seems to be Buenos Aires. As a kind of odd-couple buddy film, its pairing of Gastón Pauls and Ricardo Darín is continually fascinating as the high-stakes alliance between them keeps evolving. The pacing of the 2-hour film is just fast enough to keep one step ahead of us, and while a Hollywood version would surely find ways to trim, simplify and accelerate it, I was happy that I had time to take in the visuals and read the subtitles, too. In a related vein, viewers may also enjoy the Argentine film, "Burnt Money."
Movie Review: When the fake is a job, the truth is a nuisance
Summary: 5 Stars
Two swindlers of little worth know each other fortuitously at the break of day, and so they will get involved around an urgent business: the big chance of their lives a sort of successful jackpot. They will not be able to doubt.
Inside this world of thieves, gangsters, pimps, liars, corrupts and fakers we realize this is a real urban jungle, where every one of us has to survive at any price.
Like a Chinese box game, the advises of Marcos to his young and inexpert colleague Juan progressively look like over and over to what is really happening them at every step of this unusual journey. Each revelation seems to hide another lie like a big spiral staircase and every promise leads to a cheat.
Black humor, existential hopeless shake hands around their lives. They can not be wrong and every candidate to be cheated is their prey in this jungle.
A dynamic and agile script will involve the spectator until the clever finale. A Latin American cult movie that together with Swindlers (a Spanish Argentine co-production) reveal how there's an overwhelming talent behind stages.
Movie Review: Fascinate unpredectible and original!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Early one morning, Marcos observes Juan successfully pulling off a bill-changing scam on a cashier, and then getting caught as he attempts to pull the same trick on the next shift. Marcos steps in, claiming to be a policeman, and drags Juan out of the store. Once they are back on the street, Marcos reveals himself to be a fellow swindler with a game of much higher stakes in mind, and he invites Juan to be his partner in crime. A once-in-a-lifetime scheme seemingly falls into their laps - an old-time con man enlists them to sell a forged set of extremely valuable rare stamps, The Nine Queens. The tricky negotiations that ensue bring into the picture a cast of suspicious characters, including Marcos' sister Valeria, their younger brother Federico and a slew of thieves, conmen and pickpockets. As the deceptions mount, it becomes more and more difficult to figure out who is conning whom. This movie make you see that thieves are around you all the time in every place, at every moment. This excelent movie catch you in a fascinate story that you won't imaginate what the end is.
Don't miss it.
Movie Review: The Quintessential Con Game film
Summary: 5 Stars
NUEVA REINAS comes to us from Argentina as a highly polished jewel of a film. Based on a script that is as nuanced as any written for suspense films today, this caper (or serires of capers) is riveting and holds your attention from the beginning to the end (or is it an end?). The seemingly basic plot line involves the interplay of two con artists who finally hit the big time in gaining access to a group of stamps from the Weimar Republic (the Nine Queens of the title). The fun of this movie is the quirky twists and turns that are not only part of the "play it as it lays" language of these men, they are also outside alternative hapenstances that propel the convoluted plot along. Movies that leave you with a feeling that you need to see it again in order to figure out where you lost track of the plot succession are a true joy: they make us an integral part of the grifter's scam. The cast is uniformly superb, the cinematography and direction and editing are all excellent. This is a spinning palladium ball of a movie. Hop on for the ride!Movie Review: Mamet-like without the unbearable Mamet dialogue
Summary: 5 Stars
I rented 'Nine Queens' because I recently saw the Argentine film "Son of the Bride" and really enjoyed Ricardo Darin's performance. 'Nine Queens' was his previous film. Thought I'd give that a try as well. Verdict: Even better. The closest approximations to this film I can think of are David Mamet's 'House of Games' and 'The Spanish Prisoner.' Even though I like Mamet, his stilted, staccato staging of rat-a-tat-tat dialogue drives me (any many others) crazy. 'Nine Queens' gives you the intrigue and twists and cons of Mamet, stripped away of the irritation.
The movie itself is a finely crafted, guilty pleasure. It's pretty much impossible to review without itching to give away plot twists, so you'll find none of that here.
The two leads (Darin, Gaston Pauls) are very good, but I want to point out a performance that I thought was outstanding: Ignasi Abadal as Spanish businessman Vidal Gandolfo. His performance is mesmerizing...a perfect blend of arrogance, confidence and bluff.