Acting steals show in 'Criminal'

Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 10, 2004 at midnight

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The danger in remaking a thriller seems pretty obvious. Everyone who's seen the original will have a pretty good idea where the story is headed. It's a bit like watching a drunk stagger down the street and knowing exactly where he's going to fall.

That's the problem that faced the makers of Criminal, a remake of the 2000 Argentinian art-house hit Nine Queens. If you've seen director Fabian Bielinsky's movie, it's going to take a lot to deliver the knockout punch.

None of that is to suggest that director Gregory Jacobs' Los Angeles-based version of a similar story proves lacking in pleasure. Some snappy dialogue, fine performances and lots of shady atmosphere give Criminal a tasty B-movie flavor.

Then there's John C. Reilly.

Reilly plays Richard Gaddis, a con man who meets Rodrigo (Diego Luna) in a casino. Their meeting is - to say the least - unusual. Gaddis takes Rodrigo under his wing, thinking that his nice-guy innocence could prove useful in conning old women and other easy marks.

Reilly always gives you something to watch. He's got curly hair that looks as if someone has been doodling on his head. He's a man of ordinary impulses, the brother-in-law who wants to borrow a few bucks. The guy who doesn't get the girl.

It doesn't take long for the plot to become more complicated, immersing Richard and Rodrigo in a scheme to sell a counterfeit of a valuable piece of currency to an avid collector (Peter Mullan).

Richard's life is further muddled by simmering family problems, notably a legal feud with his sister (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

Jacobs works at a distinct disadvantage. We've seen lots of gritty con movies, and it can't be easy to freshen a genre that relies on equal measures of savvy and surprise. Thanks to Reilly's performance - a credible mixture of confidence and desperation - the movie survives.

Luna, who appeared in the abysmal Dirty Dancing Havana Nights, acquits himself well as a guy who knows how to use his good looks and natural diffidence to advantage.

If there's a larger meaning here, it has to do with a view that criminality pervades every quarter of a greedy society. The fun of the movie involves trying to differentiate between the scammers and the scammees, providing you never saw the original. If you have, do your best to forget it and enjoy the performances.

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