The Sting (1973)

 

After I watched "The Verdict" about three weeks ago, I remembered that I still have something on my list of classics, "The Sting", of which I've seen bits and pieces on TV a couple times, but never the whole thing.

Honestly, it's quite hard to write a review for "The Sting". The subject revolves around the planning and execution of an an elaborate extortion scheme against a ruthless banker with connections in the underworld of the '30s Chicago. Everything starts with smaller scheme targeting a money courier working for the guy, a payback paid in blood, followed by the revenge that brings us into the main subject. The movie develops bit by bit in a puzzle that slowly puts itself together towards the end, and revealing more of it would spoil all the charm it has.

If I should compare "The Sting" with something else, as I often do, to see where we stand, it would be a Guy Ritchie with an episodic structure a la Tarantino but released in 1973, meaning much more calm and peaceful. Besides the stellar cast on the poster, what was the real positive surprise about this is the camera work. Even though it mostly runs as an "old movie", maybe even closer to a '50-'60s feeling than of the '70s, this line is sometimes abruptly cut by some scene that looks revolutionary compared to the rest. It's either a zoom in, or a kinetic camera coming from nowhere, or just the way a scene is organized like a chase where two people run in opposite directions one on a platform above the other. It's not something extraordinary if we check out the best stuff these days, but for '73 I found it remarkable. To conclude: a solid cast and subject + an excellent technique = a movie that for an age of almost '50, it still definitely deserves watching.

Rating: 4 out of 5