The Con Is On (2018)

Directed by: James Oakley | 90 minutes | comedy | Actors: Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Alice Eve, Maggie Q, Sofía Vergara, Parker Posey, Crispin Glover, Stephen Fry, Susan Traylor, Doug Haley, Wilmer Calderon, Michael Sirow, Ethan Cohn

On paper, it’s a golden duo: Uma Thurman and Tim Roth. They were both at the peak of their careers in the 1990s, and both are indebted to Quentin Tarantino for that. They appeared in his films both with (‘Pulp Fiction’, 1994) and without each other; Roth as Mr. Orange in “Reservoir Dogs” (1992) and the Tarantino written and directed segment in “Four Rooms” (1995) and Thurman starred as the vengeful bride in “Kill Bill Vol. 1′ (2003) and its sequel from 2004. They also appeared together in Roland Joffé’s historical drama ‘Vatel’ (2000). Eighteen years later, Roth and especially Thurman are no longer at the peak of their fame. Despite this, they are still counted on the A-list and were brought in by the producers of the crime comedy ‘The Con is On’ (2018) to bring the film to the attention of the general public. Also the supporting roles were filled by well-known actors (Alice Eve, Maggie Q, Stephen Fry, Crispin Glover, Parker Posey and Sofia Vergara). The more star power we bring in, the better we can disguise how abominably bad our film actually is, the makers must have thought.

Because ‘The Con is On’ isn’t good. Writer/director James Oakley tries so hard to hitch a ride on the slipstream of humorous British crime comedies à la ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ (1998) and Snatch’ (2000) that it’s not surprising that things start from scratch. flies out of the corner in the first few minutes. Thurman (with a cringe-inducing British accent!) plays Harriet, a poker-addicted con artist and drug mule who tries with as little effort as possible with her husband and partner in crime Peter (Tim Roth, whose character is non-stop drunk, high, or both at the same time). live as comfortable a life as possible. That this lifestyle sometimes gets them into trouble becomes apparent when they come into conflict with the life-threatening queen of the London underworld, Irina (Maggie Q), who wants the money that Harriet stole from her back. Harriet and Peter flee to Los Angeles, where they meet their old friend, the pedophile priest Sidney (Stephen Fry), and come up with a plan to repay Irina. They decide to visit Peter’s ex-wife, the actress Jackie (Alice Eve), and steal the very expensive engagement ring that she got from her insufferable boyfriend Gabriel (Crispin Glover). In the meantime, he is too busy with his mistress Vivien (Sofia Vergara), while his personal assistant Gina (Parker Posey) meanwhile quietly hopes that he will choose her one day.

Oakley seems to have looked closely at the work of Guy Ritchie and Steven Soderbergh, who successfully revived the crime comedy genre at the turn of the century with tight, slick and dynamic films like ‘Snatch’ and the ‘Ocean’s’ series. He has met a number of conditions: a star cast, a fast tempo and a stylish art direction and score are present. But ‘The Con is On’ falls short on all other fronts. Especially in terms of the scenario, that’s deadly; the tone is immediately set in the opening scene with a good-looking nun who swears like a boatman as she inspects the cocaine delivered by Harriet. As lame as this joke is, it immediately turns out to be the pinnacle of humor. Stephen Fry still has a few inspired moments, but because his character is so over the top, it doesn’t hit the viewer the way Oakley and associates intended. And so it goes for all characters; they are motley and eccentric, but substantively they represent little. While some of them certainly have potential. Many of the actors we see here are just too talented to participate in this puppet show. Roth in particular has much more to offer than dancing to the tune of his dominant wife like a notorious drinking organ.

‘The Con is On’ has lofty ambitions, but the opening credits have barely rolled across the screen when it’s clear that this failed crime comedy isn’t going to live up to expectations. A ramshackle script that is about nothing, cardboard characters who try to attract attention with their extravagance but never manage to arouse a glimmer of sympathy and jokes that may have seemed successful on paper but completely kill you in practice. It seems that at some point the actors decided to mess around a bit and fill the time. As if they knew that this movie wouldn’t work after all…