This movie was so incredible that even though I'm already a fan of con/heist films and have seen bunches for some reason I just never bothered with this in the 90s or early 2000s. I guess I was just so disappointed there was no actual Spanish Prisoner con. But wow was I missing out. This is everything I love about the movies.

This was a hidden gem that was written by David Mamet. It has a really neat series of plot twists and things that you don't see coming. More amazing is that it is a decent Steve Martin film.

It's a great film that I've watched three times (so far) to try to unravel; where are the plot holes and/or implausibilities? Here are a couple things that bother me (and I will come back and edit to put in the character names) :[spoiler] 1. Why does The main character's assistant insist on showing him photos that reveal the sister ploy is fake? 2. Why isn't the main character more upset when he loses the process ?[/spoiler] Fantastic soundtrack by Carter Burwell.

Plan. Plan. Court. Deception and gambling. Never mind the MacGuffin.

Almost 20 minutes in and we haven't quite established how some of these characters relate to each other but this is essential to the plot. Love the soundtrack; such a nice mood. Although it does get a little repetitive the final act. I found myself saying "Wow. Great film." Definitely does not feel like all the other overproduced Hollywood offerings of the time. The level of coordination required to scam this guy seems nearly implausible.