| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Rachel Weisz | ... | ||
| Adrien Brody | ... | ||
| Mark Ruffalo | ... | ||
| Rinko Kikuchi | ... | ||
| Robbie Coltrane | ... |
Curator
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| Maximilian Schell | ... | ||
| Ricky Jay | ... |
Narrator
(voice)
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| Zachary Gordon | ... | ||
| Max Records | ... | ||
| Andy Nyman | ... |
Charleston
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| Noah Segan | ... |
The Duke
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| Nora Zehetner | ... |
Rose
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| Ram Bergman | ... |
Himself
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Craig Johnson | ... |
Apple Cart Vendor
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Dubravko Jovanovic | ... |
Albino
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Brothers - older Stephen and three years junior Bloom - have been con artists since they were kids. Stephen is the mastermind, for who the intricacy of the story used in the con is as important as the positive outcome of the swindle. Bloom is the main character of Stephen's stories, the character he considers the anti-hero. As adults, they travel the world and never enlist the same people twice in their cons, except for their consistent sidekick, the mysterious and primarily silent Bang Bang, a Japanese woman who just appeared in their lives one day and who has a penchant for blowing things up. As Bloom hits his mid-thirties, he wants to quit the business as he is losing his own identity to that of the characters he portrays; he doesn't know anymore what is real and what is make-believe. Stephen talks him into one last con, the mark to be the eccentric, lonely but beautiful New Jersey heiress, Penelope Stamp. Penelope's primary past-time in life is to, as she calls it, "borrow hobbies... Written by Huggo
This may be my first review of a movie for IMDb. Can't remember if it is or it isn't but the point is I don't normally feel compelled to write about movies on this website. I had the pleasure of seeing this movie in advance at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles this February. I had not yet seen Rian Johnson's previous film Brick, so going in I had no biased opinion about the director or any expectations about what I was going to see. Basically what I saw was a movie that had a great story to tell. And it knew it, so it acted accordingly. I don't think going into detail about the events in the movie will do anyone any good, so I'll stick to a vague approach here. The movie has a similar vibe to Wes Anderson's work, but only in a purely superficial sense. The plot is of the "caper" mold and concerns two sibling con men and their virtually mute sidekick on a quest to trick rich people out of a lot of money. The actors are all first rate. Adrien Brody is essentially the lead, but Mark Ruffalo and Rinko Kikuchi round out the main group of characters. That is, until we meet the real star of this movie. Rachel Weisz has always been great in everything I've seen her in, but she commands the screen in this movie like I've never seen before. I'd put her on an early shortlist for Best Supporting Actress at next year's Oscars. Ultimately this movie made such a strong impression on me because of how well her character worked for me and the strong chemistry she had with Adrien Brody. I strongly recommend you avoid details about this movie in order to get swept up by this wonderful story, like I did. This is a must-see.