The Top 10 Best Movie Con Artists
The Con is On with these Movie Con Artists.
As much as I enjoy watching grizzled cops dispensing justice, it seems like the criminals always have more fun. That’s why this week’s Top 10 List is going to honor the most brilliant con artists to have ever graced the silver screen. I’ve always been a fan of confidence artists and the way they manage to skillfully manipulate their marks into doing exactly what they want. The really good ones will always leave you guessing right until the very end. Now, most con artists work in pairs which made it especially hard to narrow it down to just ten. So, for the sake of this list, I decided to include duos when applicable. After all, teamwork makes the dream work. Even with that exception in place, it still wasn’t easy putting this list together. The end result though is a list that contains the best swindlers, hustlers, and flimflammers Hollywood has given us over the years. Check it out and see if you agree with the con artists that managed to earn a spot below!
*Warning: May contain some minor spoilers*
10. Billy Ray Valentine-Trading Places
Kicking off this list of the best movie con artists is a character from back when Eddie Murphy used to make good movies. In Trading Places, he plays a street hustler who swaps lives with a commodity broker played by Dan Akroyd for the amusement of; you guessed it, two rich, old white guys! It turns out that being a broker really isn’t that different from conning people on the street, and Valentine proves quite adept at it. However, his crowning achievement comes when he teams up with Akroyd to get revenge on the old guys who played God with their lives. Together they manage to take down the bad guys and make a killing. Despite Akroyd’s Louis Winthorpe III playing such a major role, the number 10 spot goes to Billy Ray Valentine alone.
9. Bloom and Stephan Bloom- The Brothers Bloom
Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo star as the titular Brothers Bloom (Bloom and Stephan respectively). They two claim to be some of the best con artists in the world. Bloom though is tired of spending his life pretending to be someone else. So, Stephan convinces him to do one last con together before retirement. They set their sights on a rich heiress, but things go terribly wrong in the process when Bloom falls in love with their mark. The two brothers are some of the quirkier con artists to grace this list, but they’re still brilliant. Despite all the upsets to their plan, the two manage to roll with the punches to finish off their last great caper. Like any good con movie, The Brothers Bloom keeps audiences guessing until the very end.
8. Aldo Vanucci- After the Fox
Peter Sellers was an incredibly talented actor best known for the Pink Panther film franchise and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. However, he also played one of the greatest movie con artists of all time. In the film, he stars as Aldo Vanucci, aka The Fox, who is a master of disguise and one of the most cunning criminals on the face of the planet. He’s charged with smuggling gold into Italy and comes up with a plan to shoot a fake movie in order to fool the police who are hot on his trail. Throughout the film, he dons multiple disguises that help him to elude capture in the most absurd ploys imaginable. After the Fox is Peter Sellers at his best and a must-see for anyone who loves goofy adventure films.
7. Roy Waller and Frank Mercer- Matchstick Men
Nicolas Cage has made a lot of awful movies over the years, but Matchstick Men is not one of them. In the film, he plays a veteran con man, Roy Waller, who suffers from Tourette’s and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Because of this, he works closely with his protege, Frank Mercer, played by Sam Rockwell. While Cage might be at the center of the film, pulling a lot of small cons on unsuspecting victims. His life gets unexpectedly complicated when his estranged teenage daughter appears out of nowhere. Despite Waller being the main character in Matchstick Men, I had to include his partner alongside him. I won’t spoil the film for you, but Mercer definitely proves himself worthy of joining his mentor among the best cinematic con artists of all time.
6. Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser- American Hustle
A con artist’s worst nightmare is getting nabbed by the cops. That’s exactly where Christian Bale’s Irving Rosenfeld and Amy Adams’ Sydney Prosser find themselves early in American Hustle. Caught by the FBI, the two are forced to help expose a corrupt politician by taking part in a sting operation. However, the two seasoned con artists find themselves at a disadvantage thanks to their overly gung-ho FBI handler. Through a series of events, everything possible seems to go wrong for the duo, but that proves to all be part of the plan. Bale and Adams both earned Oscar nominations for their performances in American Hustle. Unfortunately, neither of them won but their characters’ skills as con artists earn them a respectable slot on this Top 10 list.