Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

Criminal

(2004)

John C. Reilly is a con man who recruits the young and inexperienced Diego Luna for a big scam he is running on a billionaire currency collector, to sell him a very good counterfeit of a one-of-a-kind banknote worth up to around a million dollars. Complications arise. As in all movies like this (and I am an addict of con movies) I keep my hand firmly on my wallet from the first frames … and still, if it is a good script, I often get my pocket picked. I knew there was something screwy about the situation, but I was expertly faked out, and the real scam was something I did not see coming. Saying any more would be wrong, even with a spoiler warning. It all hung together … just barely. Maggie Gyllenhaal co-stars. This is a remake of an Argentine film, Nine Queens, and is co-produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh.