Mat here.
My parents and I watch a lot of Oscar winners when they're in town – and both of them are big Robert Redford & Paul Newman fans, so we watched The Sting (1973).
The Sting is a film set in the 1930's about a couple of lovable con artists (Redford & Newman) trying to grift a mob boss (Robert Shaw) for a big payday. Like any good caper movie, there's double dealings and twists, but the viewer is well-informed about the complicated set-ups and can enjoy the ride.
This a very enjoyable Best Picture winner. In a field crowded with dour war movies and serious biopics, The Sting always entertains. The pacing is excellent, broken up into discrete acts with Evening Post-style title cards, and the writing sparkles.
Bizarrely, the script was found in a slush pile (a pile of unsolicited screenplays). The man who discovered the script wrote to his boss saying the script was "the great American screenplay" and "... will make an award-winning, major-cast, major-director film."
The Academy Award-winning music by Marvin Hamlisch needs a mention, with Scott Joplin's piano piece 'The Entertainer' providing a theme that's both memorable and really embodies the upbeat cheeky feel of the film.
The Sting also won Oscars for Directing, Original Screenplay, Art Direction, Costume Design, and Editing.
In a shocking display of favouritism, this was the movie to score over 100%, with Lyn awarding the acting 10/10... twice! A perfect ten for BOTH Redford and Newman.
The final scores for The Sting were: Danielle and Mat gave it 88, Michael gave it 91 and Lyn (who really can't be claimed to be objective about this) gave it 110!!
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