MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 686 this week

The Grifters (1990)

 -  Crime | Drama | Thriller  -  4 January 1991 (USA)
7.0
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.0/10 from 15,271 users   Metascore: 86/100
Reviews: 80 user | 47 critic | 18 from Metacritic.com

A small-time conman has torn loyalties between his estranged mother and new girlfriend--both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

Director:

Writers:

(novel), (screenplay)
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

Related News

"Bates Motel" Recap: The New Norman
| The Backlot
Margaret Thatcher and the Movies
| Moviefone
Reader Spotlight: Ferdi
| FilmExperience

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 100 titles created 04 Jul 2011
 
a list of 620 titles created 06 Jun 2011
 
a list of 3595 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 264 titles created 11 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Grifters (1990)

The Grifters (1990) on IMDb 7/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Grifters.
Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Goodfellas (1990)
Biography | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.8/10 X  

Henry Hill and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

Tom Regan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.

Director: Joel Coen
Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro
Donnie Brasco (1997)
Biography | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

An FBI undercover agent infilitrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the mafia life to the expense of his regular one.

Director: Mike Newell
Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

In late 1950s New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Italy to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.

Director: Anthony Minghella
Stars: Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law
Bound (1996)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

Corky, a tough female ex con and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caeser.

Directors: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano
Cape Fear (1991)
Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a 14 year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange
Body Heat (1981)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman convinces her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband.

Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Stars: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna
Blood Simple. (1984)
Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple.

Director: Joel Coen
Stars: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya
Fargo (1996)
Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.

Director: Joel Coen
Stars: William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Crime | Thriller | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A devious sexpot steals her husband's drug money and hides out in a small town where she meets the perfect dupe for her next scheme.

Director: John Dahl
Stars: Linda Fiorentino, Bill Pullman, Michael Raysses
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

An African American mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.

Director: Jim Jarmusch
Stars: Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman
Jackie Brown (1997)
Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A female flight attendant becomes a key figure in a plot between the police and an arms dealer.

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
Guy at Bar
Robert Weems ...
Racetrack Announcer
...
Jeweler
...
Bartender
Richard Holden ...
Cop
...
Simms
...
Irv
...
Mintz
Sandy Baron ...
Doctor
Lou Hancock ...
Nurse
...
Joe
Noelle Harling ...
Nurse Carol Flynn
Edit

Storyline

Lily works for a bookie, placing bets to change the odds at the track. When her son is hospitalized after an unsuccessful con job and resultant beating, she finds that even an absentee parent has feelings for her child. This causes her own job to go wrong as well. Each of them faces the down side of the grift. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Seduction. Betrayal. Murder. Who's Conning Who?

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

4 January 1991 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Svindlarna  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Gross:

$13,446,769 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Melanie Griffith was considered for the role of Myra. See more »

Goofs

At the end of the movie when Lilly is leaving Roy's apartment with his money, blood is clearly visible on her knees and calves. But moments later when she is going down in the elevator, her legs are clean. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Voice-over: Around the country the bookies pay off winners at track odds. It's dangerous when a long shot comes in. Unless you have somebody at the tracks to lower those odds.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Eegah! (1993) See more »

Soundtracks

"DO YOU DO YOU LOVE ME"
Performed by Dreamworld
Words & Music by Pete Theodore and Emilie A. Bernstein (as Emily Bernstein)
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Juicy piece of neo-noir
24 April 2003 | by (fairview, nj) – See all my reviews

THE GRIFTERS (1990) ***1/2 John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening, Pat Hingle, J.T. Walsh, Charles Napier. Donald Westlake's slick, serpentine screenplay adaptation of noir author Jim Thompson's novel offers up a juicy, ripe slice of pulp fiction with hip Cusack a slick con artist strictly small time, Huston as his duplicitous, estranged Mobbed up mother on the take and Bening as his slinky gal pal with a few cards up her collective sleeve.

Excellently executed in the rhythms of a perfectly coiled con game about to be sprung with slick precision thanks to fine acting all around and a jolting climax thanks to a steady helm by director Stephen Frears.


15 of 22 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
'Pe.. pe..pe...permanent damage' jaypeefriend
The ending barfly467
Why did she get 10.000? Why did she leave all the money behind? unclebob-7
Just Yuck! anjelica1966
Annette's a babe? I was surprised... gcior1
Why 'R'? LilyMae
Discuss The Grifters (1990) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?