Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Frank Oz

Starring:  Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly, Anton Rodgers, Barbara Harris

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is about two competing con artists who run scams in a small, rich French Riviera town.     Lawrence Jamieson (Caine) has lived there for years, posing as a deposed king bilking rich women out of their money which he says he will use to finance his return to the throne.    Freddy Benson (Martin) just arrived in town and pulls off smaller-scale scams which nonetheless catch Lawrence's attention.    Lawrence naturally resents an outsider, especially a common American, moving in on his established territory.  

The town isn't big enough for the two of them, figures Lawrence, so they agree on a bet.    A newly wealthy American named Janet (Headly) arrives in town with fanfare as a recent sweepstakes winner.     The first guy to bilk her out of $50,000 stays in town, the other will leave.     Sounds easy enough, especially since Janet seems like a guileless pushover.    Both will find separating Janet from her money is a lot taller of an order than anticipated.    

Lawrence acts with an air of dignity, class, and culture.    He is a con artist, but with a certain style Freddy lacks.     He has pinpoint advice for Freddy in his efforts to force him out of town, "Know your limitations, Freddy.   You are a moron."    Freddy can't necessarily pull off behaving like royalty, but he sure looks convincing when he pulls up to Janet in a wheelchair posing as a disabled war hero.     Lawrence and Freddy engage in an ever escalating and funny game of one-upmanship.     We see how resourceful they can be when faced with an obstacle or when Janet seems she is about to sign over all her money, but then retracts at the last second.     Who knew conning would be such hard work?

Caine and Martin are masterful comic actors.     Their teaming is flawless.     We actually like them since, hey, we're not the ones in their crosshairs.     The film's ending is not just a nice twist, but poetic justice for both men, who are after all Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.      The movie, directed by one of Jim Henson's Muppeteers Frank Oz, is one in which the actors are clearly loving their work.     Their joy is infectious and transfers to the viewer.     Oz went on to direct Martin in superior comedies like Housesitter (1992)  and Bowfinger (1999), plus Robert DeNiro in the heist drama The Score (2000) and Nicole Kidman in the biting satire The Stepford Wives (2004).    He is a skilled director who keeps things moving.   

Perhaps we like Lawrence and Freddy because their targets are wealthy women who have so much money to burn they cheerfully give it away.    They won't miss what amounts to a few sheckles to them.     We forgive the guys their trespasses     We can even tip our cap, like Lawrence can, to a superior con artist who outwits them both in the end.     They, like us, never saw it coming.     Isn't that the way with most movies about cons and con artists?     And would we have it any other way?