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Nine Queens

Nine Queens

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Argentinian con film
Review: Juan is scamming a sales clerk in a local shop. Just as Juan's scam falls apart, another customer steps in, says he's a policeman, and removes Juan bodily from the shop.

Juan is relieved to learn that the other man, Marcos, is a con artist too. Marcos needs a new partner, and he offers to teach Juan the ropes.

Juan needs money and reluctantly agrees--he doesn't trust Marco, and Marco seems frustrated with Juan and berates him for being a con man "with a conscience."

They spend the morning trading tricks of the trade. But by the afternoon, they find themselves in the middle of a scam involving the "Nine Queens"--9 rare stamps that are worth......well, there's a variety of opinions on that matter. To complicate matters, Marcos has a sister, Valeria, who can do the ultimate favour for him--trouble is she's really not in the mood to do her brother any favours--thanks to the fact that Marcos has cheated Valeria and their kid brother out of a large inheritance.

Just who is scamming who will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire length of this Argentinian film. Most "con films" are so simple, that the viewer can easily guess the outcome by the time the film is half over. "Nine Queens" just doesn't let you off that easily.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nueve Reinas
Review: Nine Queens is a heist flick, and as such is quite predictable in its unpredictability. After the first few minutes of the movie, you know something's not quite as it seems, that there's a part of the con that you're just not seeing, but that you know is there...and that's part of what's great about this movie.

Set in Buenos Aires, this is the story of two con artists, Marcos, played by Ricardo Darin (Son of the bride) and Juan, played by Gastón Pauls (Nuts for Love), who decide, reluctantly, that they should work together in order to have a big hit, namely, the sale of a fake stamp collection, The Nine Queens. The acting, while not extraordinary, is successful in presenting these two criminals as they perform a variety of cons. The real gem here is the writing; witty dialogues and smart cons fill this film, more precisely when things start to go wrong at every turn for Juan and Marcos and they have to improvise for the con to work. The movie also stars Leticia Bredice as Marcos' unapproving sister.

If you're a fan of the genre, you may be able to discover the twist before the end of the movie, but still, it's a fun ride, and it's refreshingly different from other heist films (i.e. Ocean's eleven, Confidence, et al) as it presents a livelier, fresher Southamerican spirit.

As a foot note, this movie was remade in english by Steven Soderbergh's and George Clooney's production company, Section 8, which coincidentally also made Ocean's eleven and Ocean's twelve, two similarly themed films. The U.S. version stars John C. Reilly (Chicago, Boogie nights) and Diego Luna (Y tu mamá también, Havana nights).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pure Masterpiece!!
Review: No computer animation. No special effects. No slo-mo. This is a movie which engages the viewer through dialouge and plot. If only Hollywood could learn from this movie and go back to its roots of story and acting.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Quintessential Con Game film
Review: NUEVA REINAS comes to us from Argentina as a highly polished jewel of a film. Based on a script that is as nuanced as any written for suspense films today, this caper (or serires of capers) is riveting and holds your attention from the beginning to the end (or is it an end?). The seemingly basic plot line involves the interplay of two con artists who finally hit the big time in gaining access to a group of stamps from the Weimar Republic (the Nine Queens of the title). The fun of this movie is the quirky twists and turns that are not only part of the "play it as it lays" language of these men, they are also outside alternative hapenstances that propel the convoluted plot along. Movies that leave you with a feeling that you need to see it again in order to figure out where you lost track of the plot succession are a true joy: they make us an integral part of the grifter's scam. The cast is uniformly superb, the cinematography and direction and editing are all excellent. This is a spinning palladium ball of a movie. Hop on for the ride!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: this movie will leave you guessing til the end!!!
Review: Once this movie started,I couldn't stop watching it.It's a very entertaining movie from the get-go.One of the best con-movies I've ever seen.This movie take you to the real world of a con-man & the ending.............well-just watch it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AMAZING ARGENTINEAN MOVIE!...
Review: Smart, witty, entertaining with a twist of an ending. Ricardo Darin and Gaston Pauls are amazing!!! One of the best Argentinean movies of all times. Even if you're not into independent or foreign movies, this is a MUST SEE!!!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: con artist caper
Review: Sub-par con artist flick, two con men attempt to pull off the impossible---selling a valuable stamp set to a wealthy financier. The twists and turns that occur are outrageous---and the ending is so weak, it makes the viewer feel conned. Then again, perhaps that is what the director intended. Not recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The perfect con film!
Review: There's a quite a bit of surprise in the Argentine film Nine Queens, but the biggest surprise of all is how perfect it is.

The film follows two grifters who stumble onto the biggest con opportunity of their lives: The selling of forged stamps worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The only thing is who can they trust in this nest of con-men? Everything about the film is perfect, especially all the clever plot twists. But the filmmakers never get too clever, they keep everything toned down just enough to stop from being over the top, but exciting enough to never know who's conning who. It avoids predictable plot points and over emphasis on ideas that has been prominent in recent heist films such as The Score, which pushes its cleverness to much.

When I rented it, I wasn't aware of it being a foreign film (not that it would have mattered, I rent plenty of them), so I was surprised when the titles came up in Spanish (that's a fair warning for those interested). But this film, in it's theme and design, is so similar to the styles of American films that if it weren't for the foreign language, I'd never consider it foreign. This is one that definitely transcends cultures and is purely a great ride of a film that just about anyone would love. I highly recommend this film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Human nature and the Argenine economy. Good caper film.
Review: This 2000 Argentine import is a caper film that kept my eyes glued to the screen. Yes, nothing is what it seems. And the twists and turns in the plot require utmost concentration. And then, just when I thought I had it all figured out, everything changes again.

I think the script was wonderful. And so was the acting and directing. The pacing is excellent too. And everything moved along swiftly. There seems to be a plot within a plot within a plot. And everything is revealed just a little at a time.

The Nine Queens of the title refers to a sheet of counterfeit stamps. But there are questions raised about these stamps also. Nothing in this film is what it seems. And yet, it is put together in an extremely coherent fashion.

It's about human nature, of course. But then, it's also a bit about the Argentine economy. You have to see it to understand. Definitely recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Heist, the Sixth Sense and Run Lola Run rolled into one
Review: This is a brilliant film (a lot better than the Heist). It is about an ultimate con, one that comes along once in a lifetime, to paraphrase one of the characters. It is so fast paced that even though you try to keep each detail in mind, you run out of room. The ending (even if you get a part of it earlier on) will still make you want to see the movie again and again, just to see where the clues were.


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