Con Men will be screened on Saturday 18th March at the 2017 Indie-Lincs International Film Festival.
Everyone loves a good con (except the person getting conned of course). Watching the meticulous planning and suspenseful execution of a con on film can provide some of the most nail-biting experiences cinema can offer. Writer/Director, R. Paul Wilson has brought the streets of Glasgow to our screens in a slick noir that has so many twists and turns, it even cons its audience.
An experienced con artist named Rob (Paul Comrie) is approached by the student (Tom Moriarty’s Tom) of his former mentor (Ray Crofter’s Joe). Tom claims that Joe has found the ultimate con in a high-stakes card game and asks Rob to assist him in this dangerous plan. The bulk of the film has Rob – who doesn’t fully trust this newcomer – teaching and explaining the ways of the trade to Tom. Tom’s education of the conning world coincides with the devising of the plan. In many ways, Con Men follows the stylishness of Ocean’s Eleven but with a grittier tone. This is Glasgow after all. There are more deceptive characters in this film than there are in a game of Cluedo and witnessing all of them try to swindle each other is riveting to watch. Also planning to use methods of deceit to win big at the card game is Euan Galbraith’s Jackie, a thuggish gangster who spits insults at his competitors. Jackie serves as an intimidating villain in a film full of dodgy people and provides a serious threat to Rob and Tom.
Many heist flicks often fall flat because of an unsatisfying pay-off. But boy does Con Men pay-off. The finale is jam-packed with tension and the plot unravels to reveal a jaw-dropping truth. Unpredictability is what makes Con Men so effective and it achieves what many big-budget mainstream releases can only dream of; satisfaction. As the credits begin to roll, you will feel a strange sense of contentment because of how Rob and Tom’s stories played out.
Con Men is a dapper thriller with a shocking story that is drenched in a sleek noir aesthetic. It’s capricious and enthralling, and a real hoot for anyone who enjoys spending most of their film experience parked on the edge of their seat.
Written by Tom Durrans
Eyes on Screen 