Con artists battle to win in 'Criminal'

Reilly is fun to watch in his lead role as a veteran con man.
By DAVID GERMAIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Even when he's repellent, John C. Reilly manages to endear.
A ubiquitous supporting and ensemble player in such films as "The Hours, "Gangs of New York," "Magnolia" and "Chicago" (which earned him an Academy Award nomination), Reilly steps into the lead with "Criminal," a solid, engaging take on the shell-game genre.
A remake of the 2000 Argentinian flick "Nine Queens," "Criminal" spins the tale of a veteran con man who takes on a new prot & eacute;g & eacute;.
First-time writer-director Gregory Jacobs makes a skillful and assured debut, delivering a taut little thriller that clips along effortlessly while packing in a great deal of action and backstory.
Jacobs' ability to load up on the drama is small surprise given he spent the past decade as an apprentice to Steven Soderbergh, a producer on "Criminal" along with filmmaking partner George Clooney.
An assistant director on Soderbergh's movies, Jacobs had been encouraged by his boss to find a project to direct on his own. Soderbergh and Clooney steered him toward adapting "Nine Queens" into "Criminal."
Film's plot
The story unfolds in a single day in Los Angeles as cynical, heartless con man Richard Gaddis (Reilly) takes on new partner Rodrigo (Diego Luna of "Y Tu Mama Tambien"), whom he finds working penny-ante grifts in a bar. A raw recruit, Rodrigo nevertheless has an attribute that Gaddis finds valuable in pulling swindles.
"You have one thing money and practice can't buy," Gaddis tells Rodrigo. "You look like a nice guy."
Gaddis is definitely not a nice guy. Through the course of their ramblings, it's revealed that Gaddis bilked his sister Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and younger brother (Jonathan Tucker) out of their rightful inheritance.
The bitterness between Valerie and Gaddis is so sharp she has a lawsuit pending over the money, and she becomes irate when her brother turns up at the hotel where she works to check out a possible scam.
Con attempt
Gaddis has stumbled onto a forgery of a rare piece of 19th-century American currency, which he's hoping to peddle to a high-rolling hotel guest (Peter Mullan) who must leave the country so quickly he cannot wait around for proper tests to determine the bill's authenticity.
It's the score of a lifetime, but one obstacle after another whittles away Gaddis' profit margin while fueling his desire to pull off the con at all costs.
"Criminal" is packed with the obligatory surprises and questions about who's conning whom. The plot twists are not terribly hard to figure out, but they prove satisfying enough even if you see them coming.
Jacobs is blessed with earnest players inhabiting the roles as though the movie were their own big con.
Reilly is so much fun to watch, here's hoping he gets more leading-man opportunities.