Incautos (Swindled) Review

From the mind and camera of Miguel Bardem – brother of Javier and director of the thoroughly bizarre sci-fi comedy noir The Ugliest Woman In The World – comes Incautos, a slick con man thriller driven by an all star Spanish cast. Released here under the English title of Swindled the film's constantly twisting plot boasts more turns and double crosses than it seems possible to jam into its run time but it is a little guilty of playing its cards a little too early and a little too obviously.

Told largely in flashback the film revolves around Ernesto, a young man who learned to distrust the world early when his father abandoned him at an orphanage with a promise to return and claim him soon. He didn't, of course, and young Ernesto quickly learned the two rules that would govern his adult life: trust no one, and lying is often the simplest way to get what you want. Ernesto's life proceeds much as you'd expect from this point, his early adulthood spent with a fellow orphan swindling suckers at three card monte and pulling smash and grab robberies. But Ernesto has dreams of more and those dreams begin to come to fruition when he meets Lefty ..

An aging con man with decaying skills Lefty recognizes in Ernesto the kind of moral vacuum, the complete lack of concern for his fellow man, coupled with a quick mind that makes him a likely pupil – and a continuing meal ticket for a man unable to work his cons solo – and takes him under his wing, teaching him the basics of the big money con while regaling him with tales of Federico, the finest con man the world has ever known.

Of course it isn't long before the legendary con man Federico enters the picture himself and the trio pull of a string of major cons. Ernesto is living the high life and it seems that he's got it made until the arrival of Pilar, a former lover and partner of Federico's who betrayed him after their last job together. Pilar has found a golden goose, a job big enough for everyone to retire on, but she cannot pull it off on her own. She needs Federico and his team, but can she be trusted? Can any of them?

Slicker by far than the like minded Grifters, Incautos plays out like an extended mind game, writer-director Bardem daring you to figure out what exactly is going on before you reach the end. He is strong behind the camera, filling the screen with stylistic flourishes, and has a solid veteran cast anchored by Almodavar regular Victoria Abril and Federico Luppi, best known in these parts for his roles in Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos and The Devil's Backbone, and is built on a script smart and tight enough that it is sure to please genre fans. But there is a problem.

Due in part to the flashback structure, in part to Bardem's insistence on jamming in twist after twist, the film tips its hand a bit too early. This is a film less about character than it is about the dense plot and as a result you never invest enough in any of the cons to feel the sting of the multiple betrayals and after the first couple twists it becomes increasingly obvious that Bardem is going to pull the rug out at every possible turn, thus making each successive twist less of a surprise and less effective. By the time you get to the end you respect the craftsmanship of the film but are no longer surprised by any of the big, revealing moments.

TLA has given the film a solid DVD release, light on extras but good where it counts: with a solid 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer and a quality subtitle job. The film itself is presented about as well as can be. Incautos would no doubt have been a better film had Bardem given his characters a little time to pause and breathe but it is nonetheless an entertaining caper film, one in which nothing is ever quite as it seems. Worth a look.