Plot
Lawrence and Freddie are con-men; big-time and small time respectively. They unsuccessfully attempt...

Release Year: 1988

Rating: 7.1/10 (26,338 voted)

Critic's Score: 68/100

Director: Frank Oz

Stars: Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly

Storyline
Lawrence and Freddie are con-men; big-time and small time respectively. They unsuccessfully attempt to work together only to find that this town (on the French Mediterranean coast) aint big enough for the two of them. They agree to a "loser leaves" bet. The bet brings out the best/worse in the two. Interesting twist at the end.

Writers: Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro

Cast:
Steve Martin - Freddy Benson
Michael Caine - Lawrence Jamieson
Glenne Headly - Janet Colgate
Anton Rodgers - Inspector Andre
Barbara Harris - Fanny Eubanks
Ian McDiarmid - Arthur
Dana Ivey - Mrs. Reed
Meagen Fay - Lady from Oklahoma
Frances Conroy - Lady from Palm Beach
Nicole Calfan - Lady in Dining Car
Aïna Walle - Miss Krista Knudsen
Cheryl Pay - Lady with Pearls
Nathalie Auffret - Marion
Lolly Susi - Lady in Rolls Royce
Rupert Holliday-Evans - English Sailor #1 (as Rupert Holliday Evans)

Taglines: Nice guys finish last. Meet the winners.

Release Date: 14 December 1988

Filming Locations: Alpes-Maritimes, France

Opening Weekend: $3,840,498 (USA) (16 December 1988) (1466 Screens)

Gross: $42,039,085 (USA)

Runtime: 110 min  | Turkey: 104 min (TV version)

Trivia:
The scene where Steve Martin is posing with the bikini-clad women on the beach was shot twice. For the American release, the women all had their bikini tops on. For the European release, director Frank Oz filmed the same scene with the women topless. Oz states in the DVD commentary that when he commanded the women to remove their tops, he felt like the most powerful man in the world.

Goofs:
Plot holes: Freddy passes himself off as a paralyzed naval officer but is wearing the blue dress uniform of a US Army enlisted man. The sailors that help Freddy would have picked up on that.

Quotes:
[Sitting at the dinner table]
Freddy Benson: Excuse me. May I go to the bathroom first?
Lawrence Jamieson: Of course you may.
Freddy Benson: [after a pause, and with relief] Thank you.

Dirty + Rotten = Genius

Rating: 9/10

This film made an impression on me before I even saw it. I was in a theater, and a trailer for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" came on. While a voice-over talked about the value of movies promoting morality and civility, you saw Martin and Caine strolling along a beachfront, smiling beneficently as they greet passers-by. Then Caine shoved cotton candy into a kids face while Martin pushed a woman off a ledge.

It's a great sequence, and is featured on the DVD with its own commentary from director Frank Oz (when has that ever happened before?) but a little misleading. Actually, while both men are scoundrels, neither is quite that vile. Caine's Lawrence Jamieson is actually a bit of an altruist, as we find out, with a code of only taking in people who can afford to be taken, and finding ways of spending the money that are not entirely self-serving. Martin's Freddy Benson is less disciplined and more small-time in his cons; he'll steal candy from a baby and tell you it's for his poor sick Gram-Gram if caught, but he is likeable, too, an underdog with little idea how the game is played at the highest levels, but eager to learn.

The fact you can like these characters is a compliment to Martin and Caine, as well as director Oz and the team of writers. Tone is everything with a film like this, and as Oz says in his commentary, so important in making the comedy work. He notes he was going for a 1950s feel in the picture, I'm guessing with Hitchcock's "To Catch A Thief" in mind. The great score by Miles Goodman is solid enough to deserve its own CD reissue, with an air of light sophistication that buoys the proceedings on screen. Most importantly, since much of the comedy involves people taking advantage of one another, having everything put forward in such a gossamer manner helps you digest the story without leaving a bad taste.

Martin shines in many scenes, especially when playing Ruprecht the idiot man-child and when stuck in jail trying to remember the name of the only man he thinks can bail him out ("James Lawrenceton...no, wait, James Jesterton....no, no, it's definitely, um...") I knew Martin could be funny, and with the exception of "All Of Me" this is probably his best comedic performance, but Caine is a revelation. A straight man, yes, but with delicate timing and some clever characterizations that he pulls out of a bag, like an Germanic psychiatrist with some unusual ideas about curing lameness. You forget how good Caine is in comedy, despite his performances in films like this, "Blame It On Rio," and "Without A Clue." Glenne Headly is a revelation as the woman caught in the middle of Jamieson and Benson's scheming, every bit as good as her male counterparts, but say no more.

Great actors, great tone, but the plot is the best thing this film has. It's a remake of a 1964 film "Bedtime Story," which teamed Marlon Brando and David Niven for what should have been a dream team but went flat instead. This time, the script is helped by actors who can not only deliver funny lines but make them funnier, and by an ending (according to Oz in his commentary, one worked out over several long dinner meetings with Martin) that is simply perfect.

Finally, Oz needs to be recognized. He was only making his second non-Muppet film here, but the result in my view is one of the best comedies anyone has ever done. He manages to get the best from everyone, including the actors and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (some amazing night shots of the French Rivera waterfront you never tire of looking at), and delivers a rare jewel of a film, a laugh-out-loud comedy that leaves you with a warm feeling inside.

Ian McDairmid plays Arthur the butler in this, teaming him with Oz yet again. Almost titled this review "Yoda And Palpatine On The French Riviera;" it's interesting McDairmid plays the one guy in "Scoundrels" who's really on the level.

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