Directed by Stephen Frears (1990)
by Hunter Bush

The Grifters is a fantastic and subdued movie about liars, adapted from the book by Jim Thompson, a crime / noir writer posthumously called “the Dimestore Dostoevsky.” I don’t remember when I first saw it but I’ve always held it in high regard, while simultaneously finding it incredibly hard to explain exactly why. The performances are great: subtle and seething and alluring but despite being a movie where the three leads are con artists there’s no ‘Big Heist,’ no ‘Big Scam.’ It’s a movie about the relationships between these three people, the lies they tell and where that leads them.