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The Sting

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

The Sting

1973

George Roy Hill

Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning ...

8.5

101,616

Mystery. Comedy. Drama When small-time con man Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) and his partner, Luther (Robert Earl Jones), unwittingly con a numbers runner courier, they find themselves in danger from mobster Doyle Lonigan (Robert Shaw). When Hooker finds out that Lonigan's after them, he goes to warn Luther, but arrives too late. So Hooker teams up with Henry Gondorf (Paul Newman), a friend of Luther's. A con man himself, Gondorf sets an elaborate plan in motion to get back at Lonigan. [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"The style here is so seductive and witty it's hard to pin down (...) at times, it almost reminds me of Jacques Tati crossed with Robert Altman (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	A.D. Murphy Variety	""[A] finely-crafted story of multiple deception and surprise ending will delight both mass and class audiences"	POS
United States	Vincent Canby The New York Times	"A lot of the other period details aren't too firmly anchored in time, but the film is so good-natured, so obviously aware of everything it's up to, even its own picturesque frauds, that I opt to go along with it."	POS
United Kingdom	Patrick Smith Telegraph	"Irresistible (...) the definitive con artist comedy"	POS
United States	Kathleen Carroll New York Daily News	"The casting is perfect (...) The audience will follow them anywhere (...) [The movie works] because it has Newman and Redford, the best team in films, plus actor Robert Shaw."	POS
United States	Don Druker Chicago Reader	"Top-notch entertainment (...) The Chicago locations are well used by veteran director George Roy Hill, and the wonderful 30s movie style (...) enhances the sense of good, harmless, nostalgic fun."	POS
United States	Jay Cocks Time	"This isn't a movie, it's a recipe. The people who put The Sting together followed the instructions on the Butch Cassidy package"	NEU
United Kingdom	Time Out	"It's all very professional, with fine attention to period detail. All a bit soulless"	NEU
United Kingdom	William Thomas Empire	"One of those instances where everything good about Hollywood just fell into one place at the right time (...) Magnificent, timeless stuff (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	James Berardinelli ReelViews	"'The Sting' represents one of the most popular, widely-loved films to win Best Picture in the last half-century and an example of grand entertainment (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Scott Tobias AV Club	"The film isn’t particularly ambitious or distinctive, but something much rarer in the ’70s: a broadly appealing entertainment that runs like a top"	POS

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