A new cons-and-scams flick is hitting the big screens – The Brothers Bloom. It’s a perfect opportunity to take a closer look at this theme.

What is there to look at? you say. A con is a con is a con. Wrong, my friends. There’s a big, diverse world of cons and scams out there. And as this new movie tries to handle the familiar subject in a unique style, here are some of my favorite, yet less obvious and well-known, cons and scams.

10. The Brothers Bloom (2008) - The eccentric brothers’ con

Two eccentric brothers prepare for their last big job. Yes, that one last job that will fix them up good and allow Bloom, the reluctant one, to fulfill his wish of going straight. But the mark turns out to be a young millionairess, no less eccentric than the brothers. Blooms falls for her - and that, of course, causes everything to go wrong.

So, is it a spoof? A farce? A comic-con? Or an exercise in the art of mix-everything-in-and-see-what-comes-out con?

The cast is definitely promising. It’s another genre mash-up (as Slant put it) for Rian Johnson, director of Brick (2005), on a bigger budget. But as far as the trailer goes, things look risky. It seems like a mix of Bandits, Hudson Hawk and any other take-your-pick typical con flick. The long festival run together with the delay of the theatrical release don’t look good either. But as a cons-and-scams fan, I’m still hoping…

9. Pacific Heights (1990) – The real estate scam

Long before the mortgage crisis, when yuppie wasn’t a derogatory term and one could purchase real estate with practically no money, people still thought of creative alternative ways to own real estate…. with no money.

A young couple buys a beautiful old house in Pacific Heights, San Francisco. They’ve sunk all their physical and financial resources into it, and so to cover the expenses, they rent out the lower apartment. Things go awry when the rent from the seemingly respectable tenant is overdue. Soon our couple discovers they’ve rented to a devious tenant who manipulates all of law’s breaches and gray areas to drive them mad – and take over their house.

8. Shattered Glass (2004) – The journalism scam

As this is a true story, there’s no spoiler in telling you how it ends. Maybe that’s one of the reasons it flopped at the box office. Still, it’s fascinating to see this scam unfolds to the climactic revelation.

Stephan Glass, a young, ambitious journalist just out of college, joins the weekly magazine The New Republic and quickly publishes some fascinating stories that become the talk of the industry. Some of these great pieces were partially fabricated… but nobody knows, and Glass is on a fast track to success. The temptation to keep on fabricating is irresistible - each time a little more baldly, to the point where complete stories have no basis in reality. Then Glass’s mentor, the magazine editor, is replaced, and the new editor smells a fish. From that point, it’s just a matter of time before the embarrassing exposure…

7. Capricorn One (1978) - The space scam (mixed with a conspiracy thriller)

Yes, there are even cons and scams in space. Or almost…

Three astronauts agree to play along in a scheme intended to save NASA’s budget from planned cuts. Located on a sound stage, they pretend to be in a spacecraft landing on Mars.

But as usual with cons, the plan goes awry when the real, unoccupied space vehicle crashes on arrival at the red planet. Now that the astronauts are supposedly dead, they are a liability for NASA, at risk of letting the world know about the conspiracy. The obvious solution is to eliminate the trio for real. The only person helping them escape and reveal the truth is a suspicious journalist…

The movie fits in a wave of 70s conspiracy thrillers. And so as not to discriminate, like other famous sci-fi oldie blockbusters it will get its own a remake next year…

One of the astronauts is O.J. Simpson, playing in a mild disaster compared to his own life…

6. The Closet (2001) – The workplace / gender scam

It is not always about money, you know. Sometimes you need a good scam just to change up your loserish life - as the ultimate, classic, French loser character François Pignon demonstrates.

Our 7th cinematic encounter with Monsieur Pignon is a hilarious farce about workplace intrigue, sexual identity and political correctness. Pignon (Daniel Auteuil) is the last person in his factory to find out that he is about to be fired from his job as an accountant. It will probably won’t bother anyone, as he is practically transparent to his fellow workers, his wife has dumped him, and his teenage kid is embarrassed by him. A minute before jumping from his terrace, he’s stopped by a wise old neighbor, and comes up with a clever yet simple scheme: Pignon will spread a rumor that he is gay, and the management will not fire him, in order not to be liable for sexual discrimination. To our great enjoyment, this little scam gets out of control, and affects every aspect of Pignon’s life. Contributing to the mayhem are the reluctant attempts of a fellow worker (Gerard Depardieu) to befriend Pignon, as he’s afraid he will lose his job because of his apparent homophobia.

5. Autumn Spring (2001) – Aging con artists

This is a heartwarming yet unsentimental look at how different people face their inevitable demise, and the cast of seasoned seniors pulls it off with great style and humanity. In other words: sometimes you con just for fun.

This little pearl from Czechoslovakia is the story of Fanda and Eda, two irresponsible, elderly buddies, who can pull off a prank or two even in their eighties: impersonating wealthy land buyers, government officials, and so on. Fanda’s uptight wife, on the other hand, has been preparing for their death practically since she was born. So when she finds out that instead of using her savings for final arrangements - like moving to a home and preparing their funeral - Fanda used them to compensate an angry mark, she’s furious. And she decides to finally do something about it. And so those seemingly harmless scams that kept Fanda’s spirit young become a key factor in his life expectancy…

4. Seducing Dr. Lewis (2003) – The whole-village con

Sometimes you need the whole village to play along, to make a better life for everyone.

A small, down-on-its-luck fishing village on a small, unattractive Canadian island is about to have its luck change. After a long period of general unemployment, a company proposes building a factory on the island. There is one catch though: a full-time doctor must live in the village. Enter (reluctantly) the mild-mannered Doctor Lewis, an urbane young man from Montreal, who is forced to spend a month’s detention on the Island, after an incident with the former village mayor, now a traffic cop on the mainland. The townspeople will not let such an opportunity slip out of their hands, and so begins uninhibited plotting and scheming to convince the doctor to stay for good…

3. The Riches (2007) – Living the scam

This original series explores what it means to live a scam. A family of con artists, or travelers in the series terminology, steal money from their clan and hit the road. During their escape, they get into a car accident with an upscale married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Rich, who die on the spot. It’s the perfect start-over opportunity: live as the Riches in their new mansion in a gated Louisiana community. They only need to adjust to a lifestyle they’ve never had, to false identities, to regular jobs and to new friends, while keeping their scam intact from local suspicions and vengeful fellow clan members.

Despite the fresh original premise, good reviews, great chemistry between the two leads – Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver – and a hardcore fan base, the show was canceled after a short second season. Still, look at the bright side: the story won’t be stretched endlessly for no good reason (Lost, Prison Break…), and you can continue your life’s travels after a short addiction period.

2. Yonkers Joe (2008) – The good old Vegas gambling con

The Brothers Bloom is released on the day Las Vegas was founded. Vegas and cons / scams are almost synonymous - so here’s an opportunity for a tribute. It’s tempting to write a thesis on Ocean’s 11 and 13… but more interesting to focus on an unfairly overlooked indie film from last year, Yonkers Joe.

This emotional, introspective scam deals with Joe (Chazz Palminteri) and Janice (Chrisitine Lhati), a middle-aged married couple and long-time gambling con duo. They want out of it, partly because of their adolescent son – Joe feels his son’s health situation is a punishment for his way of life. But now that the son is grown up, he doesn’t fit anymore in the institution that cared for him and Joe needs to find an alternative. And that means money. Soon Joe resorts to the only way he knows how to make money – gambling scams. Reluctantly his wife joins in, for one last scam that will hopefully settle the family for good. And for big scores, you need a big target - viva Las Vegas, Yonkers Joe is coming!

1. Color Me Kubrick (2005) – A con from the movies

Let’s finish with a tribute to cinema itself. Ever wanted to know what it’s like to be a movie celebrity? So did Alan Conway, an ordinary Englishman, who decided back in the 90s to pose as the famous director. Conway didn’t let minor issues - like having no resemblance to Kubrick and knowing almost nothing about his work - get in the way. Amazingly, it worked, proving how blind people can get when close to a celebrity. Conway uses his fake reputation for a variety of petty scams, gaining free drinks, money and sex from a variety of victims. He even boldly addresses a New York Times journalist, who wrote a negative piece about the real Kubrick. Eventually, Conway is sent to a mental institution after the same journalist publically exposes him - only to con his way out of that one too, and live comfortably the rest of his life.

This witty comedy may not provide deep insight into Conway’s character, but it’s well worth watching, thanks to a tour de force performance by John Malkovich in the lead role.

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