The Sting (PG)
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This came out in 1973 (two years before I was born), but I didn't see it until 2013. It's set in 1936, and it's about grifters. It has a great cast, led by Robert Redford and Paul Newman, also including Ray Walston (though the whole time I was watching the movie I thought it was Harry Morgan), and Charles Durning, and a bunch of other people I probably should know, but don't. Um... I never caught most of the characters' names, and I'm sure I missed any number of things that were said or things that happened throughout the film, because I was really tired while watching it (it's something a bunch of my relatives were watching at the end of the day, when I thought it was too late to be starting a movie, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to bother). But I caught enough of what went on for me to know it was good. Yep, definitely a clever story, and amusing, and cool, and dangerous. Also it had a very 1930s feel, of course, which was fun. "The Entertainer" was used perhaps a bit too liberally, but it worked (though the music is actually from 1902). And I liked the title cards at the start of each act. And the 30s slang (like "everything's jake"), though I wished someone would say "23 skidoo," and no one did. Maybe '36 was a bit too late for that, but I can't imagine no one was saying it anymore, by then. But whatever. Anyway, I hope I'm not forgetting anything else I wanted to say in this opening paragraph.

So... Redford plays a grifter named Hooker. He and his mentor, Luther, pull a scam to steal some money that turns out to belong to a mob boss named Lonnegan. Lonnegan has Luther killed, and puts a hit on Hooker. So there will be hitmen trying to kill Hooker throughout the movie, while Hooker is also pursued by a cop named Snyder. Meanwhile, Hooker goes to see an old friend of Luther's named Gondorff (Newman), whom he wants to teach him to pull a big con. Hooker wants to con Lonnegan, mainly for revenge over Luther's death. So they put together a big team of grifters to pull a con called "The Wire." And... I think to say any more would be too spoilery, but I wouldn't know what else to say, anyway.

So, I'm glad to have finally seen the movie, and I liked it. But I feel that I probably didn't like it as much as it deserves to be liked. Not that it needs my appreciation; it's well-loved by tons of people whose opinions about movies are way more important than mine. Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll ever watch it again, but I might. Hopefully sometime when my powers of concentration are better.