Question:
good Argentinian con movie....not fantastic but far better than the "blockbusters" on offer at the moment
I was tempted to write a full-scale review of this, but it's virtually impossible to analyse it in any kind of depth without giving away massive spoilers - it's that kind of film, and the less you know about it in advance, the better!
But if you liked <I>The Sting</I> and <I>House of Games</I>, it's a very safe bet you'll like this. I wouldn't rate it quite as highly as Mamet's film, but I suspect that's because it's a racing certainty that it was a major inspiration, these things are never quite as pleasurably startling second time round.
But it's hugely enjoyable, and passes the time very nicely - and it's certainly not giving away spoilers to say that there are some massive plot twists along the way because this is obvious from the subject (two con men teaming up to carry out a rather bigger scam), never mind the opening scenes! And while the ending isn't totally unsurprising, the film is still pleasurably suspenseful because right up until the last thirty seconds or so the narrative could still comfortably go in two or three different directions.
I really liked Nine Queens - pacey, fun, unpretentious: the kind of movie that gets subtitle-phobes to watch foriegn films. Mr Brooke is correct when he says the plot is nigh impossible to speak of without giving anything away - it's a surprising and constantly entertaining journey helped massively by the two lead performances. In particular, Ricardo Darin is brilliant: cool, controlled, world weary... it's all in the eyes (see also: Benicio Del Toro, Lau Ching Wan). It's the first thing I've seen him in, but I think he could be huge if Hollywood grabs him.
Listen to what I’m gonna tell you now…
Nine Queens, to those who have experienced David Mamet’s con movies House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, is a journey to a predictable destination, through a well trodden route. And, of course, the train compartments smell vaguely of ****!
There is not an original moment in this piece of daylight thievery. We’re in bona-fide remake territory, not ‘influenced by’ or anything less criminal. It’s the structure of The Spanish Prisoner (with all the daft plotting that came with it), to a lighter touch, and at least half a dozen scenes from House Of Games remade nearly verbatim. And the con has to be done in a single day (Always Be Closing). Hell, the two leads even look remarkably like Argie versions of Joe Mantegna and Campbell Scott.
You know within two minutes (if you’ve done the Mamet) that every bloody character in the movie surrounding our con duo ‘share a motivation’ that is common to all but one actor. But which one? By the end of the film it’s so hard to give a toss. The film veers from one probability to the other and it’s like picking she-loves-me-she loves-me-not petals of a daisy. It’s going to be whoever is standing when the music stops. I couldn’t bring myself to care less.
Does it add owt new to the mix? Nah, not really. Sure it’s a different location – what were they going to do – uproot to Chicago and cast Steve Martin? And the Nine Queens themselves are a joke from word one (intentional I’d like to think). It also adds a plot device from the recent Argentina Crisis (no, not the world of pain inflicted by Brooklyn’s daddy – the other one). But even that turns out to be a stretch of daft proportions, given our thieves have perfectly predicted economic climates, disasters, etc. And they still slum it with the short con? Of course, any real examination of it shows a prediction of intricate human behaviour as improbable as any plot twist. Of course, you could say the same about The Spanish Prisoner (or something like Arlington Road), when all is tallied up at the end of the film. But why bother with this? Go rent the Mamet films first.
Worse still, when the movie wraps up we leave the territory of Big Dave and straight to that of Jeffrey Archer. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less. Frightening! Sure, the film is floaty light despite all the plotting and the leads are appealing enough. Threats are made by the minute but no one is ever going to get shot in the face in this movie. A pity. And like Minority Report, the film fails completely at the thing it strives for most.
So why watch a Karaoke Mamet movie in Argentinian? Especially as there are undoubtedly some great home made movie just sitting on the shelf. If I was Mamet I’d wait for the DVD. If it wasn’t grovelling to him non-stop I’d sue the ******** where they live - co**su**ers, wanna break your rice bowl?
Anyway…
The Eddieboy Low Down
McD: Nine Queens, Eddieboy, what’s the word then?
Eddieboy: Bloody foreign, innit?
McD: Doesn’t make it a bad film
Eddieboy: course it does. And I’ll tell ya why blokes like us shouldn’t bother their arses with it
McD: go on…
Eddieboy: well, its all about a bit of cash thievery, right?
McD: uh huh
Eddieboy: and we’re constantly told how much is at stake
McD: yep
Eddieboy: in bleedin’ amounts of Argentinian Pesos or whatever!
McD: so?
Eddieboy: well for all I know that’s just a couple a’ knicker! So why care less?
McD: I’m sure it’s about…
Eddieboy: what? It could be like Italian Lira for all we know.
McD: I suppose they could have told us. At least once.
Eddieboy: Yeah like 100,000 Argie Pesos are worth £50, say…
McD: and then when you find out they are stealing 300,000…
Eddieboy: you know that’s about a grand
McD: right
Eddieboy: Do I look like a bloody banker who’d know exchange rates goin’ in?
McD: No, you look like a busker
Eddieboy: my chinos were dirty or I’d be wearin’ em
McD: and that Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt is a fake
Eddieboy: yeah, it’s coming out in the wash. Sorry, I’ve stopped cleaning it. Preserves the authentic look. But has its downside.
McD: It’s funny we’ve started talking about your smelly fake rip-off D & G T-Shirt, Eddieboy
Eddieboy: it is?
McD: coz it’s sort of like a metaphor for Nine Queens
Eddieboy: my god! Aint that real queer!
McD: But you look good in those manky Wranglers all the same.
Eddieboy: You know what would have been funny? If all that money they stole amounted to just enough for a cinema ticket…
McD: …and…
Eddieboy: …they went to see a pile of ripped-off rubbish with it, like…
(together)
McD: Nine Queens!
Eddieboy: Nine Queens!
McD: That’s a better film in itself.
Eddieboy: I reckon.
Was just going to start a new thread on it-it's only £8.99 at play and I was thinking of buying it. Anyone else seen it?
Personally, I enjoyed if for the Mamet-lite piece that it is. The acting, pacing, and plot twists work fine and as Mr Brooke says, up to the last thirty seconds or so there is still a chance it could go one of several ways. So it may not be the most original film you will ever see but at least it required me to keep one eye open and a brain cell or two working which is more than can be said for 98% of the films you will see at your local multiplex.
Answers:
I was tempted to write a full-scale review of this, but it's virtually impossible to analyse it in any kind of depth without giving away massive spoilers - it's that kind of film, and the less you know about it in advance, the better!
But if you liked <I>The Sting</I> and <I>House of Games</I>, it's a very safe bet you'll like this. I wouldn't rate it quite as highly as Mamet's film, but I suspect that's because it's a racing certainty that it was a major inspiration, these things are never quite as pleasurably startling second time round.
But it's hugely enjoyable, and passes the time very nicely - and it's certainly not giving away spoilers to say that there are some massive plot twists along the way because this is obvious from the subject (two con men teaming up to carry out a rather bigger scam), never mind the opening scenes! And while the ending isn't totally unsurprising, the film is still pleasurably suspenseful because right up until the last thirty seconds or so the narrative could still comfortably go in two or three different directions.
Answers:
I really liked Nine Queens - pacey, fun, unpretentious: the kind of movie that gets subtitle-phobes to watch foriegn films. Mr Brooke is correct when he says the plot is nigh impossible to speak of without giving anything away - it's a surprising and constantly entertaining journey helped massively by the two lead performances. In particular, Ricardo Darin is brilliant: cool, controlled, world weary... it's all in the eyes (see also: Benicio Del Toro, Lau Ching Wan). It's the first thing I've seen him in, but I think he could be huge if Hollywood grabs him.
Answers:
Listen to what I’m gonna tell you now…
Nine Queens, to those who have experienced David Mamet’s con movies House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, is a journey to a predictable destination, through a well trodden route. And, of course, the train compartments smell vaguely of ****!
There is not an original moment in this piece of daylight thievery. We’re in bona-fide remake territory, not ‘influenced by’ or anything less criminal. It’s the structure of The Spanish Prisoner (with all the daft plotting that came with it), to a lighter touch, and at least half a dozen scenes from House Of Games remade nearly verbatim. And the con has to be done in a single day (Always Be Closing). Hell, the two leads even look remarkably like Argie versions of Joe Mantegna and Campbell Scott.
You know within two minutes (if you’ve done the Mamet) that every bloody character in the movie surrounding our con duo ‘share a motivation’ that is common to all but one actor. But which one? By the end of the film it’s so hard to give a toss. The film veers from one probability to the other and it’s like picking she-loves-me-she loves-me-not petals of a daisy. It’s going to be whoever is standing when the music stops. I couldn’t bring myself to care less.
Does it add owt new to the mix? Nah, not really. Sure it’s a different location – what were they going to do – uproot to Chicago and cast Steve Martin? And the Nine Queens themselves are a joke from word one (intentional I’d like to think). It also adds a plot device from the recent Argentina Crisis (no, not the world of pain inflicted by Brooklyn’s daddy – the other one). But even that turns out to be a stretch of daft proportions, given our thieves have perfectly predicted economic climates, disasters, etc. And they still slum it with the short con? Of course, any real examination of it shows a prediction of intricate human behaviour as improbable as any plot twist. Of course, you could say the same about The Spanish Prisoner (or something like Arlington Road), when all is tallied up at the end of the film. But why bother with this? Go rent the Mamet films first.
Worse still, when the movie wraps up we leave the territory of Big Dave and straight to that of Jeffrey Archer. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less. Frightening! Sure, the film is floaty light despite all the plotting and the leads are appealing enough. Threats are made by the minute but no one is ever going to get shot in the face in this movie. A pity. And like Minority Report, the film fails completely at the thing it strives for most.
So why watch a Karaoke Mamet movie in Argentinian? Especially as there are undoubtedly some great home made movie just sitting on the shelf. If I was Mamet I’d wait for the DVD. If it wasn’t grovelling to him non-stop I’d sue the ******** where they live - co**su**ers, wanna break your rice bowl?
Anyway…
The Eddieboy Low Down
McD: Nine Queens, Eddieboy, what’s the word then?
Eddieboy: Bloody foreign, innit?
McD: Doesn’t make it a bad film
Eddieboy: course it does. And I’ll tell ya why blokes like us shouldn’t bother their arses with it
McD: go on…
Eddieboy: well, its all about a bit of cash thievery, right?
McD: uh huh
Eddieboy: and we’re constantly told how much is at stake
McD: yep
Eddieboy: in bleedin’ amounts of Argentinian Pesos or whatever!
McD: so?
Eddieboy: well for all I know that’s just a couple a’ knicker! So why care less?
McD: I’m sure it’s about…
Eddieboy: what? It could be like Italian Lira for all we know.
McD: I suppose they could have told us. At least once.
Eddieboy: Yeah like 100,000 Argie Pesos are worth £50, say…
McD: and then when you find out they are stealing 300,000…
Eddieboy: you know that’s about a grand
McD: right
Eddieboy: Do I look like a bloody banker who’d know exchange rates goin’ in?
McD: No, you look like a busker
Eddieboy: my chinos were dirty or I’d be wearin’ em
McD: and that Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt is a fake
Eddieboy: yeah, it’s coming out in the wash. Sorry, I’ve stopped cleaning it. Preserves the authentic look. But has its downside.
McD: It’s funny we’ve started talking about your smelly fake rip-off D & G T-Shirt, Eddieboy
Eddieboy: it is?
McD: coz it’s sort of like a metaphor for Nine Queens
Eddieboy: my god! Aint that real queer!
McD: But you look good in those manky Wranglers all the same.
Eddieboy: You know what would have been funny? If all that money they stole amounted to just enough for a cinema ticket…
McD: …and…
Eddieboy: …they went to see a pile of ripped-off rubbish with it, like…
(together)
McD: Nine Queens!
Eddieboy: Nine Queens!
McD: That’s a better film in itself.
Eddieboy: I reckon.
Answers:
Was just going to start a new thread on it-it's only £8.99 at play and I was thinking of buying it. Anyone else seen it?
Answers:
Personally, I enjoyed if for the Mamet-lite piece that it is. The acting, pacing, and plot twists work fine and as Mr Brooke says, up to the last thirty seconds or so there is still a chance it could go one of several ways. So it may not be the most original film you will ever see but at least it required me to keep one eye open and a brain cell or two working which is more than can be said for 98% of the films you will see at your local multiplex.
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