Sting for a day. Who will it be?
- Review By:
- tpb
- Date:
- February 19, 2009
- Movie:
- Nine Queens
- Director:
- Fabian Bielinsky
- Released:
- 2000
- Good Guy:
- Juan
- Played By:
- Gaston Pauls
- Bad Guy:
- Marcos
- Played By:
- Ricardo DariÂn
- MPAA Rating:
- R
- Family Friendly Ages:
- Young teens
Nine Queens (originally titled Nueve Reinas) is something of an Argentinian take on The Sting (1973). Two con men hook up to scam a stamp collector into buying forgeries of the famous Nine Queens - nine stamps on a sheet with the likeness of Queen Victoria. (What is it about Queen Victoria? She is one formidable-looking woman in that famous profile-pose that adorns so many movie sets.)
Like The Sting, you're not really sure who's being conned and, to the movie's credit, that bit of information doesn't really become clear until the very end. "Nine Queens" is filled with the usual con game fare: double cross, double-double cross, triple-double cross, questionable characters, rip-offs, side-plot heists, sexy women whose loyalties are continually in question, naive-looking victims, and brooding flim-flam men who either do or do not have a conscience. It's a watchable film... it's just not a great film. It doesn't ever seem to find a heart-racing tempo and, because the story seems somewhat familiar, the end can be more of an "I knew it!" than a "What the..?"conclusion. Still, "Nine Queens" has its moments there just aren't nearly enough of them.
