Film

The Sting

Name: The Sting
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Released: 1973
Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston

Con-artist caper

The Sting is a stylish, ragtime-scored con movie starring Newman and Redford as grifters running an elaborate swindle against a ruthless mobster. It's playful and meticulously plotted, never rushing its reveals, so every double-cross lands because you're a step behind. Great for anyone who loves being outsmarted by a film that's clearly having a blast doing the outsmarting. Pure comfort-watch craftsmanship.

TMDb rating

4.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love caper stories where the fun is in watching clever people outfox each other, with period costumes, jaunty music and a plot that rewards paying close attention.

Skip it if you want fast, relentless action or edgy modern cynicism; it moves at a leisurely pace and spends long stretches setting up its deception before the payoff arrives.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just over two hours, and be willing to let the setup unfold patiently, since the pleasure comes from the slow reveal of how the scheme is built.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid1969

Newman and Redford's other classic pairing, same director George Roy Hill, same easy chemistry but as outlaws on the run instead of con men — proof it wasn't a fluke.

But It's more elegy than caper, and the ending trades cleverness for melancholy — don't expect another triumphant swindle.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid poster

Ocean's Eleven2001

Soderbergh's glossy ensemble heist shares the same love of an elaborate plan revealed piece by piece, plus a cast clearly having as much fun as Newman and Redford did.

But Slicker and cooler than warm — less character work, more montage and one-liners.

Catch Me If You Can2002

DiCaprio's real-life con man charms his way across decades in a film that shares The Sting's affection for the grifter as folk hero rather than villain.

But Spielberg plays it broader and more sentimental, and the chase structure is looser than a tightly engineered sting.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Sting

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Lady Eve1941

Same architecture as The Sting — we watch the con being built in real time, root for the con artist anyway, and get a final twist that recontextualizes everything we've seen.

Barbara Stanwyck runs a long con on Henry Fonda's hapless heir in Preston Sturges's dazzling screwball comedy — decades before Newman and Redford, this is where the trick of letting the audience in on the game got perfected.

But It's a romance first and a con movie second, and the rapid-fire 1940s dialogue takes a scene or two to adjust to.

American Hustle2013

Another period con job with a stacked cast, big wigs, and a scheme that keeps folding in on itself — messier than Gondorff's operation but just as entertaining.

But Loosely based on real events, it's shaggier and less pleased with its own cleverness — more chaos, less clockwork precision.

The Usual Suspects1995

If you loved not seeing the con coming, this is the film that turned 'you got fooled' into a genre unto itself, with a reveal still worth protecting from spoilers.

But Colder and more violent, with a puzzle-box structure that rewards a second viewing more than a first.

Paper Moon1973

Same year, same Depression-era dust, but scaled down to a tiny two-hander: a small-time grifter and the girl who might be his daughter running penny-ante scams across the Midwest.

But Black-and-white and much quieter — no mob money at stake, just survival and a prickly, wonderful relationship.

House of Games1987

David Mamet's directorial debut is a masterclass in con mechanics — clipped, theatrical dialogue and a plot that keeps re-dealing the cards on you right to the last scene.

But Stagey and cold by design; the deliberately artificial acting style alienates as many people as it seduces.

Matchstick Men2003

Nicolas Cage plays a twitchy, superstitious con man training an eager protégé — the same mentor-apprentice engine as Newman and Redford, filtered through anxiety instead of swagger.

But More psychological character study than breezy caper, with a late tonal shift some viewers feel undercuts the fun.

The Grifters1990

For when you want the con movie with the good humor stripped out: a mother, her son, and his girlfriend all running separate scams on each other in a tightening noose.

But Genuinely bleak and nasty where The Sting is warm — this is the con genre's dark twin, not a comfort watch.

F for Fake1973

The Sting is a con about a con; F for Fake is Welles conning the audience about conning, using the documentary form itself as the blindfold.

Orson Welles's genre-scrambling essay-documentary about a real art forger turns into a meditation on trickery itself, made the same year as The Sting and narrated by a man who was once Hollywood's most famous self-mythologizer.

But It's not really a story, more a magic trick about storytelling — loose, essayistic, and allergic to the neat plotting you're expecting.

Nine Queens2000

Same bait-and-switch pleasure of being fooled alongside the mark, but stripped of American gloss and stretched taut with real menace instead of ragtime charm.

An Argentine thriller about two strangers running a stamp-forgery scam over one increasingly tense Buenos Aires day, building to a final-act reveal that recalibrates every scene that came before it.

But Subtitled, low on Hollywood polish, and far more anxious than playful — little of The Sting's grinning showmanship here.