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YMMV / The Sting

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  • Award Snub:
    • Despite its success at the Academy Awards, Robert Shaw missed out on a Best Supporting Actor nomination. It's often considered that this is because he demanded his name be placed before the title, thus cementing himself as a lead. If not for that, the supporting nom would have been a shoo-in.
    • In spite of this film being one of the all-time classic actor pairings, Paul Newman didn't even get nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
  • Awesome Music: Orchestral arrangement of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" is a delight to listen to, and the light playful mood of the piece fits perfectly in the lovable scamp con artist mood.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Henry Gondorff is a charming and sly Con Man who assembles a team of like-minded crooks to concoct the ultimate rip-off against mob boss Doyle Lonnegan. Claiming to be seeking revenge against Lonnegan but truthfully admitting he's primarily in it for the cash and thrills, Gondorff outdoes Lonnegan at cheating during a game of poker while putting on the appearance of an abrasive drunk to lower Lonnegan's guard. Gondorff then has his partner Johnny Hooker pretend to betray him and ally with Lonnegan, all so Hooker can feed Lonnegan false intel about a fictional horse race headquarters that results in Lonnegan placing a losing bet amounting to a fortune. Using his connections that extend even into law enforcement to further legitimize his scheme, Gondorff then fakes his own death and gets away scot-free with conning Lonnegan completely—with Lonnegan himself never even realizing he's been played.
  • Sequelitis: We just... don't talk about The Sting II.

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