Fresh
A wonderfully crafted, absolutely charming remake of the 1964 film Bedtime Story.
Variety Staff, Variety
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Nice guys finish last. Meet the winners.
1988 · 1h 50m · PG
Comedy, Crime
Directed by
Frank Oz
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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Overview
Con artist Lawrence Jamieson is a longtime resident of a luxurious coastal resort, where he enjoys the lavish fruits of his deceptions -- that is, until a competitor, Freddy Benson, shows up. When the new guy's lowbrow tactics impinge on his own sophisticated work and believing him to be the infamous conman 'The Jackal', Lawrence resolves to get rid of him. Confident of his own duplicitous talents, he challenges Freddy to a winner-takes-all competition: whoever swindles their latest mark, American heiress Janet Colgate, out of $50,000 first can stay, while the other must leave town.
Director and cast
- Frank Oz Director
- Steve Martin as Freddy Benson
- Michael Caine as Lawrence Jamieson
- Glenne Headly as Janet Colgate
- Anton Rodgers as Inspector Andre
- Barbara Harris as Fanny Eubanks
- Ian McDiarmid as Arthur
- Dana Ivey as Mrs. Reed
- Meagen Fay as Lady from Oklahoma
- Frances Conroy as Lady from Palm Beach
- Nicole Calfan as Lady in Dining Car
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
89%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Their comic methods are different, but from their first unequal encounter until the very last in a series of twist endings, Mr. Caine and Mr. Martin work together with an exuberant ease that's a joy to watch.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
Fresh
Martin, the most eloquent of physical clowns -- the Baryshnikov of comedy -- is at his most inspired here. He parodies feelings, attitudes, states of mind that one would think were exempt from it, and his caricature of dapper suavity is killingly precise.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Fresh
The chemistry between Martin and Caine is fun, and Headly provides a resilient foil as a woman who looks like a pushover but somehow never seems to topple.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Rotten
There's little enough to keep you occupied as Caine and Martin go through their comic set pieces in workaday fashion while the film moves mechanically from one contrived situation to the next.
Time Out
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