**½/**** Image B Sound B (DD)/B+ (DTS) Extras B
starring Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
screenplay by David S. Ward
directed by George Roy Hill
by Travis Mackenzie Hoover The Sting has hung on tenaciously despite widespread critical neglect. Though it was rapturously received in 1973 (copping seven Oscars in the process), subsequent generations of critics haven't really had the inclination to go over it like a murder scene for clues to its brilliance. It's the Neil Simon version of vintage crime: well-written in a pejorative sense, it thinks every thought through for you instead of allowing you to participate in the experience. There's a place for this kind of movie, but a slight disappointment is almost unavoidable–all these talented people could surely have done something more with the milieu than refurbish Scott Joplin with Marvin Hamlisch arrangements.
Despite the Depression locale, there's nothing depressing for miles. How else to explain the casting of Robert Redford as a small-time grifter? Redford's Jimmy Hooker manages to get himself into a scrape when he lifts several thousand dollars belonging to Doyle Lonnigan (Robert Shaw), a no-nonsense crime lord who wastes no time in offing Hooker's partner. Of course, this is merely the set-up for Hooker's rendezvous with saviour Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), a larger-time con whose extrication plans involve an elaborate scheme designed to fleece Lonnigan out of a massive sum. One crooked card game later, Lonnigan is sucked in, leading to a rollout of gambits and character bits the likes of which seemed fairly innovative at the time.
Let me reiterate: Redford is playing a criminal, a petty criminal at that; one look at his chiselled features tells you he's never set foot outside the country club where he was born. And that's at once the movie's strength and weakness: it's a rib-tickling caper dropped in a setting that calls for meanness and desperation. It's nice to see Redford and Newman do the twinkle-eyed movie star thing as they play dirty tricks for the quality crowd, but as you think back to what this kind of thing meant during the actual Depression, you can't help but feel a bit of a loss. You know that Redford won't be smashing grapefruits into people's faces, nor will Newman be dying in a hail of bullets–that would be nasty, and would make The Sting less palatable for a middle-of-the-road audience.
Despite being part of the referential free-for-all that was the '70s, this movie is far removed from its vanguard. It's more about classiness than about meaning, and it hedges its bets accordingly. Aside from the egregious inclusion of Hooker's black partner (Robert Earl Jones), who's exploited for liberal brownie points before getting unceremoniously whacked, there's no real engagement with the thirties beyond period detail (excusing the hugely-anachronistic use of Joplin's "The Entertainer," of course) and exquisite cons. It moves swiftly enough and there's nothing shoddy about the production, yet because I could tell where it was going, I lost track of its plot machinations–I resented having to put in the time without some other reason to be there. There's a hole in The Sting's heart of salt-water taffy that all the skill in the world can't cover.
THE DVD
Universal reissues The Sting in a two-disc "Legacy" edition that marks the film's widescreen debut on the format. The 1.85:1, 16×9-enhanced presentation looks pretty good, with superb fine detail offsetting somewhat questionable saturation: skin tones are a trifle pallid and vibrancy is a little less than what a definitive package ought to offer. Too, considering the title's prestige, it's surprising that the source print appears to have seen better days. Dolby and DTS 5.1 remixes grace the disc, once again proving the superiority of the latter format: Although the Dolby track is well-articulated, it's clustered around the fronts, and its separation of elements is more obvious. The DTS option offers a more harmonious and seamlessly integrated soundfield–though it similarly underutilizes the rear channels.
The sparse extras include the second platter's "The Art of The Sting" (56 mins.), a would-be soup-to-nuts Stingsploration from inception to release. We learn from screenwriter David S. Ward that he envisioned the music as blues before George Roy Hill watered things down with less threatening ragtime–which pretty much sums up not only the production but also Hill, who's fondly remembered by cast (Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Charles Durning, Eileen Brennan, Dimitra Arliss, Ray Walston) and crew (Ward and Hamlisch) but summed up as a storyteller rather than an auteur. Semi-detailed production notes and The Sting's theatrical trailer round out the set, which comes in a clamshell case resembling a hardcover book.
129 minutes; PG; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced); English DD 5.1, English DTS 5.1, English DD 2.0 (Mono), French DD 2.0 (Mono), Spanish DD 2.0 (Mono); English SDH, French, Spanish subtitles; DVD-9 + DVD-5; Region One; Universal
