Love a movie hustle movie? You’ll love these.
Mike McDermott (Rounders, 1998)
For much of the movie, Rounders doesn’t fee like a hustle film. It’s protagonist, New York law student Mike McDermott, played by Matt Damon, spends most of the film’s running time trying to avoid poker in order to protect his relationship. He loses big time in the beginning of the film and runs away the rest of it. So far, so hustle free. And yet, he is drawn back into the game after lifelong friend Worm (Edward Norton, actor) is released from prison and immediately kicks up a stink, not to mention builds up a debt, with a card-playing Russian mob boss named Teddy KGB (John Malkovich), who, having taken Mike’s money at the film’s outset, now becomes the victim of his card hustling skills.
Frank Abagnale Jr (Catch Me If You Can, 2002)
Steven Spielberg is in the driving seat for this true-life tale of deception and forgery starring Leonardo DiCaprio as fraudulent Frank Abagnale, Jr and Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty the cop out to get him. At various points of the movie, Abagnale, who leaves home early in the movie, works as a doctor, a lawyer and as a co-pilot for Pan Am (ask your parents) all before his 18th birthday. Of course, he was unqualified to work as any of the above and simply blagged his way into the role, regardless of how high it ranked. By 17, Frank Abagnale, Jr had become the most successful bank robber in the history of the U.S.
Danny Ocean (Ocean’s Eleven, 2001)
Freshly released from prison, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) jumps straight back into the hustle and plots the perfect casino heist with the aid of his top-notch crew, filled with Hollywood A-listers such as Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle. Following a strict code of not hurting anybody, not stealing from an innocent and playing like you have got nothing to lose, they target the three Las Vegas casinos owned by rival Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), The Bellagio, The Mirage, and the MGM Grand. These are three of the most prestigious venues in Vegas so the heist had to be elaborate and well-orchestrated and it was. Benedict would have been better off investing in an online casino, upon which a heist would prove impossible thanks to pre-vetted security protocols. With online gaming on the increase, particularly in the US, Canada, and the UK, ensure you understand how to play safely with real money through review sites like OnlineCasino.co.uk to avoid blacklisted casinos.
Johnny “Kelly” Hooker (The Sting, 1973)
Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Robert Shaw made a great team in legendary hustle film The Sting which has seven Oscar awards to prove its pedigree. Following the murder of a mutual friend, aspiring con man Johnny “Kelly” Hooker (Redford) buddies up with an old pal Henry Gondorff (Newman) and together they plot to take down crime boss responsible, Doyle Lonnegan (Shaw). From here on out the plot involves an elaborate scheme and a big con which doesn’t always go exactly to plan.
Edward “Fast Eddie” Felson (The Hustler, 1961)
Another one starring Paul Newman, who is simply amazing in this one as the cocky know-it-all 1960’s pool hall hustler. Traveling the country, his target is the famed pool legend Minnesota Fats, stopping in pool halls along the way, ripping off the locals and getting to trouble. Newman is the ultimate pick for the role and reinvigorated the role 25 years later for Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money in which he teaches an arrogant young new comer (Tom Cruise) the tricky tricks of their tricky trade.
Billy Hoyle (White Men Can’t Jump, 1992)
We first meet Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) as the awkward and out of place white guy observing a Venice Beach street side basketball game. When he is drafted into their game by way of an injury, it quickly becomes apparent that the guy can play and was hustling them all along. His motives in the hustle are split, in part down to raising the funds for his girlfriend’s buy-in to the American TV show Jeopardy, in part to save his life from the criminal gang he owes money to and also in part down to his love of the hustle. He has good game and this in turn is recognised by Sidney, played here by Wesley Snipes, who recruits him as the pair look to meet the King and The Duck, legends of the game in street final playoff.
