Release Year: 1973

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama

Director: George Roy Hill

Writer: David S. Ward

Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw

Here's the thing about The Sting: it might be the most charming movie of all time.

Yeah, yeah—we know the entire Pixar canon is pretty crazy-charming. We also know that any movie with Ryan Gosling is at least 40% charming. And of course, there's a special kind of charming reserved for movies about plucky animal friends that have zany mishaps.

But until you're seen The Sting, friend, you don't know what charm is.

Stop us when the charm gets overwhelming: this movie stars Robert Redford as an aspiring youngster named Johnny Hooker and Paul Newman as a wise mentor named Henry Gondorff. Both of these handsome dudes are kind-hearted, wisecracking con artists…that only pull cons on really evil, powerful men.

Charmed yet? Wait—there's more.

These guys have to pair up when Hooker realizes he's in deep with a super-connected mob boss named Doyle Lonnegan (played by Robert Shaw, a.k.a. Quint from Jaws). So this dynamic duo assembles a crack team of like-minded, super-witty conmen buddies to pull one over on Lonnegan.

Oh yeah—and the whole thing is set in 1930s Chicago and features a ragtime music soundtrack so good it hit the top of the Billboard charts in 1974. (No; really.)

Released in 1973, The Sting opened to rave reviews (no shocker there) and went on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. And audiences today are still nuts about the movie. Andrew Pulver over at The Guardian said—in 2017, mind you—that it was his favorite Best Picture Winner of all time:

But The Sting is the most purely enjoyable film in Oscar history—and that, I think, puts it in the most valuable American film-making tradition of all.

First and foremost, The Sting is simply a great caper movie. It wasn't the first, of course—the convoluted-robbery film was a popular genre throughout the 1960s—but it's got to be the most complicated brainteaser ever to reach blockbuster and major awards status. In fact, it disproves the idea that popular movies have to be dumb; maybe it's just a peculiarity of the caper genre, but The Sting is as knotty as a differential equation. (Source)

Putting aside the fact that Pulver praised The Sting by comparing it to a differential equation—yay, differential equations?—we think he got it absolutely right. This movie is smart, slick, enjoyable, and yes: totally charming. 

Con artists.

We as a movie-going public can't get enough of these guys. In fact, they're probably the demographic we most want to see onscreen but would least like to encounter in real life…apart from that other fan favorite, the sexy vampire.

If there's a movie about conmen doing their con thing, we're all over it—you've probably seen Ocean's 11? Or Catch Me If You Can? American Hustle? Dirty Rotten Scoundrels? Focus? Matchstick Men?

Here's one reason why we love movies about a particular brand of criminal you'd probably never want to meet in real life (because they'd take all your money): these guys make for the stuff of great plot. A movie about conmen is fast-paced, thought-provoking, tricky, and, ultimately, super-satisfying.

Here's another reason: characters. Even though real-life con artists are probably more sleazy and depressing than a Reno casino at three a.m., on screen they're electric. These are criminals that work with their minds: they're witty, sexy, and often hilarious. They're well-dressed and think fast. They know what people want, and they know people's weaknesses.

But why should you watch this particular con artist movie instead of re-watching the first season of Better Call Saul? Because The Sting is the godfather—and yes, we mean that in a criminal mastermind-type of way—of con artist cinema.

This is a movie that pits two (extremely handsome) conmen against a ruthless thug of a mob boss. It pits friendship against power-hunger. It pits brains against brawn. It pits the little guy against The Man.

In short, it manages to make the life of the confidence artist into the American Dream: if you're a clever underdog who knows that hard work and friendship are more important than control and blunt force, you'll flourish.

(Bonus reason Why You Should Care: the soundtrack is amazing.)