The Grifters

Director Stephen Frears' tense adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel The Grifters is one of the finest film noirs of the first half of the '90s. Updating the setting to contemporary Los Angeles, the film follows a trio of con artists who are intent on out-foxing each other. Roy Dillon (John Cusack) is a simple, two-bit con, whose life is thrown into turmoil when his estranged mother Lilly (Anjelica Huston) returns home in an attempt to evade the law. Lilly doesn't warm to Roy's girlfriend Myra Langtry (Annette Bening), who is too similar to herself. Soon, the two women are competing for Roy in a battle that is more of a power struggle than a pursuit of affection, and the battle quickly turns dangerous. Fueled by terrific performances by all three leads (Huston was nominated for an Academy Award), The Grifters stands as one of Frears' finest films and is the best of the numerous Thompson adaptations of the early '90s. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine