Following her devious turn in the Netflix film I Care A Lot, London-born luminary Rosamund Pike recently earned a Golden Globe statuette for Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy or Musical. The victory marks Pike's first win after being nominated for Gone Girl and A Private War.
Following her sole Oscar nomination for Gone Girl in 2014, Pike looks to add to her Academy Award cache this prolonged awards season. With a dark comedic bent, the mordant crime-thriller I Care A Lot joins a long line of films that revolve around a wily female swindler that often outsmarts those around her.
The Hustle (2019)
Billed as a gender-bending remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which in turn was a remake of Bedtime Story, The Hustle emphasizes the comedy inherent in the odd-couple scenario of female con artists.
Josephine (Anne Hathaway) is an upscale grifter who teams up with low-level hustler Penny (Rebel Wilson) to swindle unsuspecting men on The French Riveria. However, when they meet their latest mark, the players get a dose of their own medicine for a heft price of half-a-million dollars.
Focus (2015)
Slick conman Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith) enjoys a lavish life afforded by his supreme ability to bilk strangers of their fortune. When Nicky agrees to partner with Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), a novice grifter and wannabe femme fatale, he gets far more than he bargained for.
Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the comedic heist-thriller takes a turn when Nicky develops romantic feelings for Jess despite his rule of never mixing business with pleasure.
Hustlers (2019)
Inspired by Jessica Pressler's New York Magazine article "The Hustlers at Scores," Hustlers features an enterprising band of strippers who cunningly capitalize on their male customers' sexual desires.
In desperate need of fast cash in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Ramona (Jennifer Lopez), Destiny (Constance Wu), and others flip the script on their rich Wall Street clientele and swindle loads of money by drugging their drinks and charging large sums from their credit cards.
Kajillionaire (2020)
Written and directed by indie-darling Miranda July, Kajillionaire is a quirky comedic crime movie about a family of con artists who conspire to pull off a daring job upon failing to pay their rent money.
Raised by criminal parents, Old Dolio Dyne (Evan Rachel Wood) hatches a scam to travel to New York and claims the airport lost her luggage in order to cash out on an insurance claim. When the plan backfires, Dolio teams with her new friend Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) to scrounge enough money to pay the rent.
The Last Seduction (1994)
In John Dahl's sultry The Last Seduction, Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) uses her wily wits and sexual power to convince her doctor husband Clay (Bill Pullman) to sell medical-grade cocaine for a large sum of money. After he agrees, she loots the cash and goes into hiding.
Bridget hides out in a small town and marks her next unsuspecting victim named Mike (Peter Berg), a dimwitted local she convinces to get rid of Clay for good.
Wild Things (1998)
Wild Things is a sexy, serpentine crime-mystery in which one twisted con is executed after another. At first blush, the protagonist appears to be Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon), a Florida schoolteacher accused of sexually abusing his teenage students Kelly (Denise Richards) and Suzie (Neve Campbell).
But as the knotty plot unravels, the real hero turns out to be one of the two students who concoct an elaborate scheme to obtain $8.5 million awarded to Sam in a defamation lawsuit.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Directed by Frank Oz, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels stars Steve Martin and Michael Caine as a pair of dueling conmen who try to outdo each other by swindling money from various women on the French Riviera.
When the two meet soap heiress Janet Colgate (Glenne Headly), they instantly compete to woo her and bilk her out of her vast fortune. However, Janet has far more up her sleeve than she lets on and ends up turning the tables on the two men and teaching them a lesson for the ages.
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis join Monty Python alums John Cleese and Michael Palin in A Fish called Wanda, a hilarious caper film in which the foursome attempt to pull off a brazen diamond heist.
While Kline won an Oscar for his performance as the vulgarian Otto, the real star of the story is his sister Wanda (Lee Curtis), a brilliant con-woman who pulls the strings to the elaborate crime plot in a way that benefits her and leaves the others out to dry.
The Grifters (1990)
After his latest scam leaves him in the hospital, small-time hustler Roy (John Cusack) is met by estranged mother Lilly (Anjelica Huston), who also works as a grifter for the mob. When Lily meets Roy's girlfriend Myra (Annette Bening), the trio works together to pull off a long con.
Despite the family affair, the three proceed to backstab and double-cross each other to obtain a large sum of stolen mob money. The Grifters earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Director for Stephen Frears.
American Hustle (2013)
David O. Russell's American Hustle features an assorted collection of con artists who become involved with New Jersey mobsters, politicians, and the FBI. The dark crime comedy was nominated for 10 Academy Awards.
With $2 million up for grabs, seasoned conman Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is assisted by his seductive girlfriend Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) to help pull off an elaborate scheme by changing her identity to English socialite Lady Edith Greensly. Sydney outsmarts everyone involved en route to becoming a millionaire.