Season 2
"Swindlers, Liars, & Con Artists"

Con artists, swindlers, and liars should be despised for their treachery, and yet we all admire a good con for its elegance and mastery.  Join us as we watch talented con artists play on human vanity, naiveté and greed.

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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005).  Petty thief Harry Lockart (Robert Downey Jr.) gets caught up in a murder investigation in this action-packed comedy. Posing as an actor, Harry heads to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds an authentic acting coach in detective Perry Van Shrike (Val Kilmer). But the bright lights of Hollywood fade when a murder takes place and Harry, Perry and Harry's high school dream girl (Michelle Monaghan) become part of the investigation. (Screened 4/13/08)

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002).  Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) has it all -- a hot TV hit, "The Gong Show," and the love of a good woman (Drew Barrymore). But he's got one big secret: He's a CIA assassin who kills while purportedly escorting his game show winners on their vacation prizes. George Clooney directs and co-stars with Julia Roberts in this film based on the book of the same name, authored by the real-life Barris. (Screened 3/16/08)

Boiler Room

Boiler Room (2000).  A college dropout (Giovanni Ribisi) with chutzpah to spare runs a successful gambling casino out of his Queens apartment. But then a friend comes knocking with a better deal: the chance to join an up-and-coming securities firm as a top-line stockbroker. There's only one hitch to this sure thing: The firm is shadier than the dark side of the moon. (Screened 1/20/08)

The Talented Mr. Ripley

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).  Charming sociopath Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) maneuvers his way into the lush life of a young heir (Jude Law) vacationing in Italy in this increasingly creepy thriller from Anthony Minghella (The English Patient). Nominated for multiple Oscars and Golden Globes, the film features breathtaking cinematography and standout performances from all involved, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman. (Screened 1/13/08)

Six Degrees of Separation

Six Degrees of Separation (1993).  Paul (Will Smith) is a charming and engaging young con artist who appears one day on the doorstep of Flan and Ouisa Kittredge (Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing). Professing to be a friend of the affluent couple's son, Paul spins a tale of celebrity and despair that deeply affects the pair and their socialite friends. Playwright John Guare's psychological drama also stars Ian McKellen, Mary Beth Hurt, Bruce Davison and Heather Graham. (Screened 12/16/07)

My Own Private Idaho

My Own Private Idaho (1991).  Gus Van Sant's indie hit hones in on the friendship between Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves), two hustlers living on the streets of gritty Portland. Scott's lifestyle is his way of embarrassing his rich, oppressive father; Mike, a narcoleptic who's in love with Scott but maintains he's straight, is content to struggle from day to day. Their relationship stumbles when they hit the road to find Mike's mother and Scott falls for a woman. (Screened 12/9/07)

The Grifters

The Grifters (1990).  Roy Dillon's (John Cusack) life is turned upside down when a con job goes bad. His estranged mother, Lilly (Anjelica Huston), who happens to be on the lam, reunites with her son to oversee his health care, only to be faced by Roy's headstrong, competitive, con-artist girlfriend Myra Langtry (Annette Bening). Myra does her best to win over her man in Stephen Frears's darkly funny and intricately layered look at life's seedy side. (Screened 11/11/07)

House of Games

House of Games (1987).  Psychologist Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse) decides to help one of her patients out of a gambling debt. Margaret finds the person to whom the money is owed: slick-talking Mike (Joe Mantegna). Mike, who runs poker games, persuades Margaret to help him look for "tells," or telltale body language, in a game. She falls for the con and for Mike, becoming deeply involved in his world. David Mamet wrote and directed this psychological thriller. (Screened 10/14/07)

The Sting

The Sting (1973).  Fueled by ragtime music, The Sting takes the thrill of the confidence game to giddy heights. After rookie grifter Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) tracks down veteran flim-flam man Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) in 1930s Chicago, the duo plans to fleece a homicidal racketeer (Robert Shaw) through a phony racetrack scam. Ripe with double and triple crosses, The Sting keeps viewers guessing, and yearning for another Newman-Redford seriocomic teaming. (Screened 11/30/07)

Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy (1969).  Hayseed hustler Jon Voight comes to Manhattan to earn cash as a freelance sex stud. There, he meets seedy gimp Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), and an improbable friendship blossoms. Rated X in 1969, the movie won Oscars for Best Picture, Director (John Schlesinger) and Screenplay. Although Hoffman didn't win a Best Actor Oscar, his Ratso characterization -- the vilified butt of everyone's jokes -- is heartbreaking. (Screened 11/23/07)