Unlikely allies from different sides of the law must work together to achieve a common goal – trapping the world’s most legendary con man.
Twist upon twist heaps up in Chan-won Jang’s “Swindlers,” a heist film you’ve seen a million times before — and done better. Jules Dassin’s classic “Rififi,” David Mamet’s mother-of-all-heist-films “Heist,” Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean” trilogy — oh man, there are so many — “Thief,” “The Thomas Crown Affair” (and remake), “The Italian Job” (and remake), “The Bank Job,” “The Score,” “Out of Sight,” even “Fast Five” or “Now You See Me”…
The list of “films that did it better” goes on and on. “The Swindlers” really brings nothing new to the formula, much less reinvent it. Its convoluted plot, coupled with its predictable setup and terrible (or at least terribly translated) dialogue makes for one of the less impressive features I’ve seen come out of South Korea yet.
Coupling together a disparate group of beautiful-looking people to con a conman (responsible for “the biggest Ponzi scheme in history”), Jang’s shameless plagiarism doesn’t stop there: there’s a sexy jazz score supplementing the proceedings, everything is displayed on large screens, and seemingly-impossible feats are achieved by our suave protagonists, who backstab one another with shameless abandon. The notion of not knowing who to trust is compelling in itself, yet when the actors lack chemistry this desperately and deliver their lines this poorly (seeming way more excited about the plot contrivances than we are), it all becomes boring very quickly. I couldn’t care less who was “swindling” within the first 20 minutes.
Take another look at the list of films I’ve provided above. If you haven’t yet seen them, start with the original “The Thomas Crown Affair.” You’ll have much more of a blast than trying to decipher “The Swindlers” — not the film itself, mind you, but whether its dreadful script maybe, just maybe, sounds better in its native tongue.
Available on Blu-ray and Digital July 30th
