Richard Gaddis (John C. Reilly) catches young Rodrigo (Diego Luna)
conning some casino waitresses out of chump change and decides the guy
is just the right chump to help him run other local scams. The slyest thing
about this diverting remake of the 2000 Argentinian heist flick Nine Queens is,
in fact, how much everybody seems to have a scam in the works--there isn’
t a single honest soul in sinful, sunbeaten Los Angeles. Richard and Rodrigo
soon get caught up in a big swindle concerning some counterfeit currency, a
game that ensnares Gaddis’ angrily estranged sister Valerie (Maggie
Gyllenhaal), the concierge of the hotel that’s hosting the guys’ main mark
(Peter Mullan, coolly brutish). What happens next isn’t really anything new--
The Sting, anyone?--and the requisite final twist might not hold up to closer
inspection, but director Gregory Jacobs knows how to lie back and it keep it
gliding affably along (he served as an assistant director on nearly all of
Steven Soderbergh’s films). The performers all hook into the low-key vibe:
Reilly’s schlub persona fits snugly into his small-time grifter role, while Luna
and Gyllenhaal seem more simmering and sexy in each new shot. The
movie is as entertaining and inessential as L.A. itself