Starring John C Reilly, Diego Luna. Written by Gregory Jacobs, Sam
Lowry. Directed by Gregory Jacobs. (14A) 87 min. Opens Sep 24.
It was pretty criminal to remake Nine Queens, the sharp Argentine movie about two conmen trying to fence some stamps. While the team behind Criminal
is impressive -- Steven Soderbergh wrote the script under his pseud
"Sam Lowry" with his faithful assistant director, Gregory Jacobs --
it's too faithful a carbon copy to justify its existence. It's the
English-language version of the exact same picture.
John C. Reilly plays Richard, an experienced conman who's in
need of a new partner for a big score. He spots another young crook,
Rodrigo (Diego Luna), getting caught pulling a small-time con in a
casino and helps him out of the jam. Over the course of a day, Richard
refines Rodrigo's techniques, and then they move on to trying to sell
off a unique forged bond to a businessman who happens to be staying in
a hotel managed by Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Richard's sister.
To those who saw Nine Queens, there's nothing
surprising about what follows: the twists, the screw-ups and the
counter-crosses. It's certainly well executed and acted, though the
casting is less than perfect: while Reilly is a consummate character
actor, the characters he portrays are generally schlubs, and it's hard
for him to shake that image. With his doughy face and naturally
guileless expression, he seems more like a stooge than a master
criminal. Next to Ricardo Darín, who played the same role with vulpine
skill in Nine Queens, Reilly comes across as a bit of a loser.
Diego Luna, however, playing his younger and more vulnerable
foil, is perfect for his part -- while there have been quite enough
versions of this story told for the time being, it's tempting to
imagine a whole other remake combining the talents of Luna and Darín,
mixed with Soderbergh's juiced-up dialogue.