Barnes & Noble

Reunited several years after being paired in 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Paul Newman and Robert Redford proved with this delightful 1973 caper film that their onscreen chemistry was, in cinematic terms, historic. The Sting more than matched the earlier film's box-office success, and it won a total of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay. David S. Ward's complicated but skillfully developed script sets the action during the depths of the Depression in Chicago, where small-time grifter Johnny Hooker (Redford) enlists the aid of legendary con man Henry Gondorff (Newman) to mount an elaborate "sting," targeting ruthless New York gangster Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), who was responsible for the murder of Johnny's mentor, Luther Coleman (James Earl Jones). It's a potentially dangerous undertaking that Henry initially disdains. But the lure of the "big con" is irresistible, and ultimately the two men team up to stage an operation so intricate it will require the services of more than a dozen confederates -- all of whom anticipate a big payoff. Director George Roy Hill (The World According to Garp), never the most stylish of filmmakers, won his well-deserved Oscar for coordinating the creative efforts of a sublimely talented group working both in front of and behind the cameras. The film is a pluperfect example of this most collaborative art form. The production design brilliantly re-creates the 1930s in sets, costumes, and props; the lighting and photography is crisp; the editing maintains a crackling pace; and even the ragtime music of Scott Joplin (arranged by Marvin Hamlisch), though written decades before the time frame of the movie, seems perfectly appropriate for the mood and setting. Performances are faultless, with stars Newman and Redford heading but not dominating a superb cast, each member of which represents the perfect choice for his or her part. It's hard to imagine anybody other than Robert Shaw as the vicious Irish mobster, and the same goes for Harold Gould's dapper con man, Charles Durning's corrupt cop, Eileen Brennan's hard-boiled hooker, or Ray Walston's smooth-talking sharpster. Simply put, there isn't a single discordant note in this symphony of cinematic artisanship. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Four years after setting box offices ablaze in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and director George Roy Hill re-teamed with similar success for The Sting. Redford plays Depression-era confidence trickster Johnny Hooker, whose friend and mentor Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones) is murdered by racketeer/gambler Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). Hoping to avenge Luther's death, Johnny begins planning a "sting" -- an elaborate scam -- to destroy Lonnegan. He enlists the aid of "the greatest con artist of them all," Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), who pulls himself out of a drunken stupor and rises to the occasion. Hooker and Gondorff gather together an impressive array of con men, all of whom despise Lonnegan and wish to settle accounts on behalf of Luther. The twists and surprises that follow are too complex to relate in detail -- suffice to say that you can't cheat an honest man, and that you shouldn't accept everything at face value. The Sting became one of the biggest hits of the early '70s; grossing 68.5 million dollars during its first run, the film also picked up seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Adapted Score for Marvin Hamlisch's unforgettable setting of Scott Joplin's ragtime music. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 025192790225
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Special Edition, Subtitled, Dubbed, Digi-Pak
• Time: 2:10:00
• Sales Rank: 7,077

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