- Roy Dillon (John Cusack) is a sleazy small-time con artist. Trained by a one-time master of the short con (Eddie Jones), Roy regularly flashes a twenty-dollar bill that he slyly swaps for a ten when it comes time to pay. He routinely makes bets that he can't lose, but he's not exactly in a position to win big, either. Instead, he simply squirrels away his earnings behind a corny clown painting in his drab apartment, waiting for the day when something better will come along. His girlfriend Myra (Annette Bening) seems happy enough with this arrangement, although we might legitimately wonder why she'd ever be attracted to such a fast-talking punk in the first place.
- But unbeknownst to Roy, Myra's quite the grifter herself. While her short cons take the form of sexual offerings to her landlord (Gailard Sartain) or jeweler (Stephen Tobolowsky), she fondly recalls a perfected long con involving bum real estate deals with dopey Texans (including Charles Napier) and an ounce of fake murder. Problem is, her old partner (J.T. Walsh) is out of the game, and Myra desperately needs someone to assist her with the con. Imagine her delight, then, when she casually witnesses Roy bilking some sailors (including Jeremy Piven) in a rigged dice game. Maybe Roy and Myra make a better match than anyone thought.
- Of course, I imagine that Roy's mother Lily (Anjelica Huston) would disagree. True to form, Lily is also a crook, making her living at the racetracks in the employ of a bookie named Bobo Justus (Pat Hingle). Roy and Lily haven't seen each other for years, but she decides to drop by while on assignment in "Los Ang-el-ees" only to find that one of Roy's cons has backfired, leaving him in need of a doctor. Soon Roy is in the hospital while Lily and Myra are at each other's throats. Incidentally, did anybody else notice that Lily and Myra have the same hairdo? At any rate, Lily quickly finds herself in enough trouble with Bobo that it looks like somebody is going to die. Any takers on who?
- If Jim Thompson had lived long enough to see it, I imagine he would have adored Stephen Frears' adaptation of The Grifters. Although Martin Scorsese produced and even provided the opening narration, Thompson's work is infused with a wry perverted humor that just isn't a good match with Scorsese's thematic interests and directorial style. Frears and his immensely talented cast, on the other hand, hit every note exactly right. Certainly the most impressive performance is Angelica Huston's brilliant turn as a mother who is all-too-willing to rob, seduce, assault, and abandon her son in precisely that order, although Annette Bening is nearly as good as a tart who spots all the angles. Even bit players like Henry Jones as a desk clerk help to recreate the essential sour flavor that defines Thompson's novels. It's rare that any author's work leads to two perfect film adaptations, but The Grifters and After Dark, My Sweet are exactly that.
- The Lady Vanishes appears on a TV in the background just before Lily goes on the run.
- Donald Westlake wrote the screenplay, and his various pseudonyms appear in the name of the film "Coe, Stark, Fellowes, & Associates."
