The Grifters July 7, 2007
Posted by clydefro in : Modern Films, 1990s , trackback
Seventeen years after its release, The Grifters
The Grifters was based on a novel of the same name by Jim Thompson, who worked with Stanley Kubrick on the screenplays for The Killing and Paths of Glory, had his book The Getaway brought to the screen twice, and is generally adored by readers of pulpy noir-type fiction. Thompson’s story was adapted by Donald Westlake, a well-known writer whose novel The Hunter was the basis for John Boorman’s Point Blank. Having never read the Thompson book, I can’t say how close the film adheres to its source material, but what we see in The Grifters is a lean, well-constructed example of how to perfectly develop three characters while setting into motion an uncomplicated, interesting storyline.
Like many of the great noirs of the ’40s and ’50s, the film is really more successful as a character study than a crime thriller. Through flashbacks and innuendo, the audience learns that Cusack’s Roy and Huston’s Lilly have, let’s say, an unorthodox mother-son relationship and Bening’s Myra has a history of grifting, a con artist term neatly quoted at the onset from the Rodgers and Hart song “The Lady Is a Tramp.” Each character seems constantly vying to be the most cold-hearted of the bunch, with a winner only emerging at the very end. If you love films like this, as I do, it becomes difficult deciding whether you should feel sympathy for any one of them, specifically Cusack’s character who’s positioned as the protagonist.
Roy is a small-time grifter who’s more interested in scamming bartenders out of ten bucks than running a long con. He has a substantial stash of money hidden behind a sad clown painting so we know he must be either frugal and prolific or experienced in bigger scams than he lets on. All signs point to the former, a guy who lives for the take and is unable to turn his back on a mark. When he’s on a train with Myra, he spots some sailors, including a young, balder Jeremy Piven, and locks in on his prey despite little opportunity for escape should the con go bad. You get the feeling that it’s a compulsion for Roy, something he enjoys even if he knows his limits in scale but not frequency.
His mother, Lilly, has been grifting all her life and is tied up with the unlikely named Bobo Justus (Pat Hingle, who’s only one of the several recognizable character actors present). With her looks fading and her platinum hair unable to conceal that she’s now a woman in her forties, Lilly probably sees an ending point to her viability as a crook. Her plan of attack has been to steal money from Bobo and hide the bills in the trunk of her car as she works racetrack schemes. We see that Lilly isn’t terribly bright or particularly brave when faced with Bobo, leaving her future in doubt. Her influence in Roy’s life causes a rift between Myra and him and ultimately brings down all three principal characters. The animal-like survival instinct we see from Lilly (stunningly brought to life by Huston in the finest scene of her career) is a startling reminder that these types of people don’t play nice.
If Lilly is the ice queen maternal figure, then Myra is the calculating mistress of indeterminate motive. Like Roy, the audience can never be sure of Myra’s intentions. We see right away that she’s found the ultimate weakness in man - lust - and is more than willing to exploit it for her own benefit. She’s opportunistic to a fault, conniving and conning with a smile. There’s no way of knowing for sure what she has in store for Roy, or whether the large con she’s mapped out would result in a nice payday for both of them or just her. Ruthless and alluring, Myra is a femme fatale equal to the best in film noir.
All three actors give their characters the perfect blend of callous indifference and seasoned, professional confidence to make for superb performances. I believe Cusack was only 24 years old when the film was shot and he’s a revelation, breaking free once and for all from the constraints of a career mostly spent in teen comedies. Since then, he’s honed a nice reputation frequently playing characters who care too little in films such as Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity and the underrated The Ice Harvest. An Academy Award nomination to match Huston’s and Bening’s would have been a deserved honor for the actor. Still never nominated in his career, Cusack was overlooked in 1990 in favor of Robert De Niro in Awakenings and Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves, among others.
Huston and Bening lost to Kathy Bates in Misery and Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost, respectively. Not my choices, but at least they were nominated. Both actresses give stunningly cruel, multi-dimensional performances. Watching the film recently, I detected a bit of Gloria Grahame, among other notable noir actresses, in the way Bening plays Myra and then I discovered that she actually somewhat patterned her performance after Grahame. It’s perfectly realized, a terrific throwback to what see in older films. I can’t recall a better contemporary example of completely adopting the style and mood of the classic femme fatale than what we see from Bening here. In fact, the entire film is a keenly updated homage to the black-and-white noirs, with added nudity and language but otherwise completely in the same tone.
The versatile director Stephen Frears should bear at least some of the credit for the success of The Grifters. After Martin Scorsese chose to direct Goodfellas instead, though he retained a producing credit and added a brief (unnecessary) opening narration, Frears was chosen following the critical success of Dangerous Liaisons two years earlier. The English director has proven himself adept at several genres, re-teaming with Cusack for High Fidelity and going on to direct fine films like Dirty Pretty Things and last year’s Oscar-nominated The Queen. I’ve seen several of Frears’ films, but I can’t say that I’ve noticed many obvious or consistent threads running throughout his work. Prior to The Grifters, he directed another noteworthy crime film, The Hit, which I’ve not seen but am anxious to view once the rumored release from Criterion surfaces.
The existing R1 special edition DVD of The Grifters is nearly five years old and could use some image clean-up, but remains more than acceptable and affordably priced. A new R2 release in the UK came out in February but I’ve not yet seen any reviews or indication as to whether the transfer is sufficiently better. Both editions seem to share the same special features, including a commentary with Frears, Westlake, Cusack, and Huston and a profile of Jim Thompson. I’d be curious to hear any opinions on the possible variations in image. The film itself is quietly great, maybe even a small masterpiece, and should appeal to those who enjoy spending a couple of hours with rotten-hearted noir characters.
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Grifters Stephen Frears | Jim Thompson (novel) | Donald E. Westlake (screenplay) | Cusack. How can you go wrong?