The Grifters (1990)

The critic praises the film's authentic film noir spirit and the powerful performances, especially Anjelica Huston's as the mother and Annette Bening's as the dangerous lover. He highlights how the story of con artists seducing one another builds to a shocking, inevitable conclusion that exposes the characters' deep-seated patterns of trust and betrayal.

The review calls the film one of the queasiest, most nihilistic crime thrillers, emphasizing its palpable desperation, moral rot, and psychosexual despair among the central grifters. It notes the fatalism and soul-sucking nature of life on the grift while praising the new 4K restoration.

The critic calls the film a taut, tough and funny hard-boiled melodrama that becomes sorrowful at the end, crediting Stephen Frears with a smashing variation on classic Hollywood crime stories. She singles out the gripping dynamics among the unholy trinity of mother, son and lover as they con one another.

The film is a gripping neo-noir thriller thanks to its perfectly cast leads. Superb performances by Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening stand out alongside Frears' taut direction of the Jim Thompson adaptation.

The critic finds the film diamond-hard and mesmerizing in its take on Jim Thompson's novel of mother love and the rackets, praising the updated yet pure noir visuals and performances. She singles out Anjelica Huston's ferociously seductive central performance as the motor of the piece and Frears' masterful control of tension.

The critic praises the film's craftsmanship, stylized performances by Huston, Bening, and others, and especially its bold, unapologetic handling of Oedipal themes between mother and son. The ending is singled out as a legitimate shocker that underscores the characters' ruthlessness.

The critic praises the film's hardboiled pitilessness drawn from the source novel and Anjelica Huston's powerful, monstrous performance as Lilly, noting how it gives weight to the ruthless amorality and enriches the noir with sexual electricity and tension. They single out Huston's willingness to embody the character fully for praise while observing the direction and script keep things snappy despite minor issues like the score.

The critic highlights the ruthless survival instincts of the con artists, especially Anjelica Huston's tragic mother character Lily, and praises Donald Westlake's screenplay and Stephen Frears' gripping direction, while noting weaknesses in the younger leads.

The review describes the adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel about smalltime hustlers as a curiously uneven movie, noting the intriguing subculture but faulting the execution. It singles out John Cusack's underplayed, colorless performance as Roy for complaint while acknowledging the cast and premise.

The critic calls The Grifters one of the best and meanest neo-noirs of the 1990s, praising its dark themes of greed, betrayal, and murder. They highlight the complex, unforgettable performances by the lead trio and the film's riveting, heartbreaking payoff.