Criminal Details

Steven Soderbergh's long-time collaborator Gregory Jacobs makes his directorial debut with this worthy remake of the Argentine crime drama Nine Queens. A twisting tale of two small-time con artists who stumble upon the scam of a lifetime, it's slick and stylish entertainment that compares favourably with Fabian Bielinsky's super-sharp original. In an enjoyably sleazy turn, John C Reilly plays unscrupulous mentor to Diego Luna's inexperienced grifter. Temporarily teaming up over 24 hours in LA, the duo's shenanigans culminate in an elaborate sting to fleece an Irish multimillionaire (Peter Mullan). With its crisp dialogue and subtle performances, this sophisticated caper is smoothly seductive, agreeably gliding from one swindle to another. Where the feature does falter is in its overreliance on coincidence, which slightly takes the sheen off the pair's crafty accomplishments. But even though it's not quite as clever as it believes, the film's still a pleasure to watch.

A thoroughly entertaining thriller with more plot twists and turns than a bent corkscrew