"Not only are you a cheat, you're a gutless cheat as well!"
George Roy Hill scored a runaway hit pairing Paul Newman and Robert Redford with Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid (1969). The trio rejoin for The Sting (1973), an amiable caper comedy that's more entertaining than it should be.Novice conman Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) and mentor Luther (Robert Earl Jones) cross Irish racketeer Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) in 1930s Chicago. Lonnegan's thugs murder Luther, inspiring Johnny to seek revenge. He teams with veteran swindler Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), who enlists a team of collaborators for a convoluted long con. To trap Lonnegan, they must avoid a mysterious hitman, a crooked cop (Charles Durning) and FBI agents.
The Sting recreates the Depression as pop art, with Hill culling from a mishmash of cultural memories. Thus Norman Rockwell title cards coexist with turn-of-the-century Scott Joplin tunes; the spacious but underpopulated sets (lovingly aged by Henry Bumstead) resemble '30s B pictures more than reality. Even when Hill punctures the nostalgia with police corruption, racial slurs and graphic assassinations, they're momentary aberrations.
In contrast to the aimless Butch Cassidy, The Sting manages a complex plot. David S. Ward's script takes time building up an intricate con involving poker games, phony horseraces and Federal investigators. Our heroes infiltrate trains, rent apartments and insinuate themselves into offices with impressive thoroughness. The ferocious but foolhardy Lonnegan doesn't stand a chance. It's so fun watching these crooks work, we don't question the scheme's plausibility.
Fun though it is, The Sting lacks a strong core, suffering from hollow characters and ambling digressions. Henry and Johnny's mentor-novice relationship amounts to little, while assorted subplots and minor players eat screen time. Johnny's stalked by an assassin who's sloppily unmasked; Lt. Snyder's grudge seems an unnecessary complication. The movie builds to a gotcha ending that's appropriate yet unsatisfying.
Paul Newman and Robert Redford fit the material like a glove. Newman plays with wry, amused detachment, Redford with cocksure earnestness. Robert Shaw plays his menacing villain straight, while Charles Durning opts for broader comedy. Eileen Brennan, Jack Kehoe and Harold Gould play other grifters; Dimitra Arliss has an important but murky role.
The Sting's gentle escapism is critic proof. Any flaws are subsumed by its warm nostalgia, breezy script and legendary stars.