Confidence tricks in film and television

Summary

This is a list of fictional portrayals of confidence tricks found in television and the movies.

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  • Inception (2010) - directed by Christopher Nolan. A team of con artists use specialized technology to either steal information from, or implant ideas into, a targeted person's subconscious during a shared dream experience.
  • American Hustle (2013) - directed by David O. Russell - based on the FBI's 1970s and 1980s "Abscam" sting, of which it is described as a "fictionalization;" Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) are con artists whom FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) forces to participate in a similar law-enforcement sting to Abscam.
  • Better Call Saul (2015) - created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. AMC prequel series to Breaking Bad, explaining the back story of con-man-turned-lawyer Saul Goodman; in particular, the episode "Marco" includes a montage which is a protracted litany of key lines from many different confidence scams.[1]
  • Focus (2015) - directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa; a film about con artists
  • Zootopia - In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy.
  • Pocket Listing (2016) - directed by Conor Allyn. The film follows a down on his luck Los Angeles realtor (James Jurdi) who is hired by a shady Hollywood couple (Rob Lowe and Jessica Clark ) to discreetly market and sell a sprawling Malibu villa, a deal which of course results in double crosses, adultery, murder, mayhem, and pretty much every illegal activity under the sun.
  • Squad 38 (2016) - A South Korean television series which involves team of con artists who collect unpaid taxes from millionaires by swindling them, and returning it to the Tax Collection Bureau. Starring Seo In-guk as leader of con-artists, Ma Dong-seok as manager of Tax Collection Bureau's Section 3, and Sooyoung of Girl's Generation as Tax Collection Bureau's team member.
  • Sneaky Pete (2017) - created by David Shore and Bryan Cranston. The series follows Marius Josipovic (Giovanni Ribisi), a released convict who adopts the identity of his cell mate, Pete Murphy, in order to avoid his past life. In his new life Pete runs multi-layered confidence tricks with different partners.

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References edit

  1. ^ Better Call Saul transcript, starting with "All right. Are you listening?"