The Wrath of Con: The Do's and Don'ts of Scamming According to Our Favorite Grifter Movies
Will Smith and Margot Robbie in ‘Focus’
There’s a reason Hollywood keeps making movies based on the elaborate schemes of con artists. With dramatically clever plans and built-in twists, they’re ridiculously fun. Throw in a likeable lead and a target who’s got it coming, and you’ve got the recipe for a highly-watchable movie that will sucker you in every time. This Friday, the new grifter thriller Focus starring Will Smith will become only the latest in a long line of cinematic con jobs. Focus is the story of a suave con artist and his blonde protégé-turned-lover-turned-ex (Margot Robbie) scheming their way across the globe. And if form holds, even if it’s a bad movie, it could also be enjoyable one. It may also be educational. Con-artist movies contain many lessons for the novice grifter, and we’ve compiled them below in a list of the do's and don’ts for pulling off the perfect plan. (Warning: Spoilers to follow.)
Leonardo DiCaprio and friends in Catch Me If You Can
DO stay confident
As seen in: Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Here’s why: After all, the “con” in con man is short for confidence. Still, the most straightforward thing about being a good con man might be the most difficult to pull off. Not so for Leonardo DiCaprio’s teenaged Frank Abagnale. Not only does he pass himself off as a doctor, a pilot and a lawyer without any expertise in those fields — he also has legitimate doctors, pilots and lawyers believing him. That’s the kind of persuasiveness achieved only with unwavering confidence. Movie star looks help, too of course.
Watch the trailer for Catch Me If You Can:
DON’T forget to do your research
As seen in: Catch Me if You Can (2002)
Here’s why: There’s a scene in Catch Me if You Can in which DiCaprio’s character is almost outed as a fraud because he claims to have attended Berkeley law school, the same school his fiancée’s father attended. The skeptical father, played by Martin Sheen, tries to catch Frank in the lie but he somehow wiggles away. Still, we learn a valuable lesson from Frank’s close call. Researching your marks and their families is a major key to not stepping in it. In the age of Google, there’s no excuse not to.
The team in Ocean’s Eleven
DO assemble a good team
As seen in: The Ocean’s trilogy (2001-2007)
Here’s why: Robbing impenetrable vaults, lifting a priceless Fabergé egg, elaborately ruining the opening of a new casino — these are the type of cons that require planning, foresight and the varied skills of a cadre of con artists. It’s helpful to have a munitions expert, a tech guy, a talented mimic, a pickpocket and, if available, a tiny acrobat. That’s the crew, with a few variations, that George Clooney’s Danny Ocean repeatedly assembles to pull off this trio of major heists. His success speaks for itself.
Watch the trailer for Ocean’s Eleven:
John Cusack in The Grifters
DON’T love a con artist, especially if you’re a con artist
As seen in: The Grifters (1990)
Here’s why: Holding a con man close to your heart is a recipe for heartbreak, a point made best by the 1990 John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and Annette Bening film. Cusack and Bening, the former a small-time con man, the latter a long con expert, aren’t dating long before their romance is torn apart by suspicion. And how could it not be? If you love a con artist, how can you ever be sure you’re not a mark? At least if you have a grifter for a girlfriend you can always break up. Having a con man for a parent though? That could end in murder, as it does for Cusack’s crook, who bleeds out on a motel room floor while his mother helps out by stealing all his cash.
Nicolas Cage and Alison Lohman in Matchstick Men
DO get a paternity test
As seen in: Matchstick Men (2003)
Here’s why: Because there’s no better way to gain a man’s confidence than pretending to be the child he never knew he had. Alison Lohman, with the help of Sam Rockwell, pulls said con on Nicolas Cage, as the first step in a long con that eventually leaves him penniless. A shrewd and skeptical Cage could have sniffed this one out with a simple trip to the Maury Povich show, where he would have learned that he was not the father.
Steve Martin and Michael Caine in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
DON’T hold grudges if they’ll cost you money
As seen in: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Here’s why: It’s natural to be angry at someone who’s conned you. But if you’re like the con men at the center of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (played by Michael Caine and Steve Martin), you have little to be angry about. They were, after all, trying to con the woman who eventually conned them. The lesson Caine and Martin teach us after accepting an invitation to join the woman who fleeced them, is that when it comes to making money, there’s no such thing as hurt feelings.
Watch the trailer for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels:
DO make friends who can bail you out
As seen in: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Here’s why: There’s no shame in getting caught. Even the best con men find themselves on the wrong side of a prison cell. The key is knowing people who can help you get out. That’s why it’s a bad idea to do as Martin’s character does in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and travel halfway across the world to a city where you know no one. Compounding matters, he can’t even remember the name of the one man who might be able to help.
American Hustle
DON’T ever give up
As seen in: American Hustle (2013)
Here’s why: Even after getting busted, a new con might set you free. That’s what the characters played by Christian Bale and Amy Adams teach us in American Hustle. After getting snared by an ambitious FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) and strong armed into helping him catch corrupt politicians, they keep their con artist caps until they find a new chance to throw another twist in the plot.
Robert Shaw, Robert Redford, and Paul Newman in The Sting
DO target scum bags
As seen in: The Sting (1973)
Here’s why: The downside to conning repugnant, violent men is that they’re much more likely to retaliate than be cowed into silence. The upside is that it gives you the moral high ground. That’s why it’s possible for Paul Newman and Robert Redford to scam a sleazy numbers runner and a cruel gangster (Robert Shaw) and remain heroes in The Sting.
DO learn to weave a good tale
As seen in: The Usual Suspects (1995)
Here’s why: Any cut-rate con man can tell little lies to get out of jam, but it takes a real artist to concoct a story like the one Verbal Kint/Keyser Soze (Kevin Spacey) tells in the The Usual Suspects. It’s got dozens of characters, intertwined story lines, and the kind of tossed-off filler that makes a story believable (“Big fat guy, I mean, like, orca fat.”). There are enough truths and half-truths to keep the detective engaged, but enough lies to avoid implicating himself. And the story’s long. So long that the detective is occupied while Kint/Soze’s bail is posted. And by the time his con is revealed — poof! — he’s gone.
Photo credit: AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Frank Masi, Everett, AP Photo/Sony - Columbia Pictures, Francois Duhamel, Everett
