The Grifters (1990)

Plot of The Grifters: This is a story of three independent con artists, Lilly, Roy and Myra. Roy is actually Lilly’s estranged son and Myra is Roy’s girlfriend. Lilly has the job of making big cash bets at racecourses to lower the odds on long shots on behalf of a bookmaker, Bobo. Roy goes in for small time scams, but is injured when a mark attacks him with a baseball bat, and Myra is a young woman who uses sex to help her out. After eight years Lilly visits Roy to find him at death’s door and has him transferred to hospital but as a result misses a race meeting. She attends a meeting with Bobo who threatens her with serious injury. In the hospital she meets Myra and dislikes her. Myra is trying to get Roy involved in a long con and describes one to him, but he is reluctant. As time passes their relationships begin to get in the way of their professional activities, with distressing results.

Content: Myra is sometimes naked, once to seduce her landlord, as an alternative to paying rent, and once absolutely starkers as she is trying to seduce Roy possibly to get him to go along with her schemes. There is a lot of drinking. Bobo burns the back of Lilly’s hand with a cigar, which she finds acceptable because the alternative is being disabled with a bag of oranges (you have to see it). Roy is also hospitalised when a barman he it trying to scam pokes him in the guts with a baseball bat. He spends time in hospital and is visited by both the ladies. There is more violence which I am choosing not to describe because of spoilers.

A View: I had never seen this movie, although I was aware of it. It had become famous, or infamous back in the 90s. Roger Ebert (yes him) gave it four out of four stars and it was nominated in four categories at the Oscars, but did not actually win any. London Film Critics awarded Annette Bening the Newcomer of the Year Prize. We would normally have expected these three people to get together for a big scam, but actually no, because of their relationship their lives fall apart. It is a dark film, so be prepared.

Fun Fact: When discussing her appearance naked in the film Annette Bening said, ‘I’d also just been in Europe and they have such a superior attitude about nudity, so much more relaxed about it. So I was feeling very liberated at the time’.