The biggest complaint I have with movies about intricate, complicated cons is that everyone says exactly the right thing at the right time. In real life even the best con man can't count on that level of predictability.
Take, for example, the first scene, where Rodrigo is conning the casino waitress. Who's to say that Richard will automatically jump in and save him? An experienced con man would more likely just sit and smile to himself, watching the inexperienced kid; at most he might try to intervene on the kid's behalf, but to assume the identity of a police officer? Not believable. And for the casino security guard to just back off like that is implausible too.
Or take the scene where Richard presses the call buttons looking for an old lady and finally finds one. He pretends to be the woman's grandson. How can he be so sure the woman even has a grandson and if she does, wouldn't she know the boy's voice and know that she wasn't talking to the right person? What lonely old lady would spend 10 minutes talking to someone over an intercom without once saying, "Come to the house and visit with me"? John C. Reilly must have studied "House of Games" for his character because at times he sounded just like Joe Mantegna, but that's where the similarity ends.
I agree with the person who said that the movie should have ended with Rodrigo/Brian meeting with Valerie. Why can't filmmakers give their audiences a little credit for common sense? Don't they think we could have figured out that it was a double-cross from a simple scene like that? No, they have to spoon-feed us by showing all the various other characters gathered around a table (once again, just like in "House of Games").
As for the part where the "mark" pays for the forged note with a check, I can't believe that any con man worth his salt would allow someone else, even his sister, to take the briefcase and have sole control over it and then patiently wait several hours for the results and then accept that it took the mark eight hours to get a certified check and not cash.
And if that wasn't enough, what idiot goes into a bank where he is not known, with a check for $750,000, and ask that it be cashed on the spot? A true con man would know to open an account with a nominal amount, deposit the check, let it clear, and then draw against it the next day.
I haven't seen "Nine Queens", but for a better con double-cross I would recommend "House of Games".
Take, for example, the first scene, where Rodrigo is conning the casino waitress. Who's to say that Richard will automatically jump in and save him? An experienced con man would more likely just sit and smile to himself, watching the inexperienced kid; at most he might try to intervene on the kid's behalf, but to assume the identity of a police officer? Not believable. And for the casino security guard to just back off like that is implausible too.
Or take the scene where Richard presses the call buttons looking for an old lady and finally finds one. He pretends to be the woman's grandson. How can he be so sure the woman even has a grandson and if she does, wouldn't she know the boy's voice and know that she wasn't talking to the right person? What lonely old lady would spend 10 minutes talking to someone over an intercom without once saying, "Come to the house and visit with me"? John C. Reilly must have studied "House of Games" for his character because at times he sounded just like Joe Mantegna, but that's where the similarity ends.
I agree with the person who said that the movie should have ended with Rodrigo/Brian meeting with Valerie. Why can't filmmakers give their audiences a little credit for common sense? Don't they think we could have figured out that it was a double-cross from a simple scene like that? No, they have to spoon-feed us by showing all the various other characters gathered around a table (once again, just like in "House of Games").
As for the part where the "mark" pays for the forged note with a check, I can't believe that any con man worth his salt would allow someone else, even his sister, to take the briefcase and have sole control over it and then patiently wait several hours for the results and then accept that it took the mark eight hours to get a certified check and not cash.
And if that wasn't enough, what idiot goes into a bank where he is not known, with a check for $750,000, and ask that it be cashed on the spot? A true con man would know to open an account with a nominal amount, deposit the check, let it clear, and then draw against it the next day.
I haven't seen "Nine Queens", but for a better con double-cross I would recommend "House of Games".