Paul Newman and Robert Redford are two of the finest actors ever, and they are rarely finer than when they appear together. One of the their finest and the finest overall is The Sting. The film follows a pair of con men who set out to con a crime lord out of an obscene amount of money, part out of revenge and part for the thrill. What makes this film so great is the way that Newman and Redford play off each other so naturally and how everyone else on screen is eclipsed when just one of them is in the scene. The plot is simple, but the complexity comes as each character adds a new layer to the con and adds his/her own dynamic to the premise. The film also features a memorable turn by Robert Shaw as the villainous Doyle Lonnegan who would out act pretty much anybody except for the dynamic duo seeking to get the better of him.
An achievement in pretty much every way, this film is one that everyone should see at least once.
Newman and Redford are great on their own, but putting them together like this ups the ante…
5 out of 5
One thought on “The Sting – 1973”