Nine Queens (2000)

Nine Queens: Directed by Fabián Bielinsky. With Gastón Pauls, Ricardo Darín, Graciela Tenenbaum, María Mercedes Villagra. Two con artists try to swindle a stamp collector by selling him a sheet of counterfeit rare stamps (the “nine queens”).

“Wonderful little movie about two small time con-men, Marcos u0026amp; Juan, in Buenos Aires who come upon a scheme involving u0026quot;The Nine Queensu0026quot;. A set of rare stamps from the long defunct German Weimar Republic that are worth a kings ransom. We then soon get to see the ups and downs by the two in the movie to first obtain them and then fence them. Marcosu0026#39; sister Anibal who works as a manager in a large hotel in Buenos Aires call her brother to help an old friend of his, Sandler, who collapsed in the lobby and to take him home.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eArriving at the hotel with his friend Juan, Marcos finds old man Sandler is not only very sick but also excited about a guest staying at the hotel. Sandler also recognized Juan as the son of a person that he worked with years ago in forging money documents and stamps. Sandler tells the two con men that thereu0026#39;s a guest in the hotel who is being deported to Venezuela within the next few days whou0026#39;s the multi-millionaire industrialist Vidal Gandolfo who also collect stamps for a hobby.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSandler goes on to tell the two con-men that he can counterfeit the famous u0026quot;Nine Queensu0026quot; stamps and sell them to Gandolfo and they all can split the take, which runs as high as half a million dollars. The three become involve with the scheme to first fool and then fleece Gandolfo of the money heu0026#39;ll be willing to pay for the stamps. What they didnu0026#39;t realize was just how many other persons will become involve with their plan that in the end will lead to one of the most surprising endings youu0026#39;ll ever see in a crime caper film. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIngenious story with a WOW ending that will keep you guessing all through the movie and wonu0026#39;t let you down in the end. A very south, Argentina, of the border version of u0026quot;Treasure of the Sierra Madreu0026quot; film about greed and deception and what it does to people effected by it. Fine acting and direction with a top flight story makes u0026quot;The Nine Queensu0026quot; one of the best of itu0026#39;s kind. The movie is so good that itu0026#39;s really hard to write too much about it in fear of spoiling it for those who havenu0026#39;t seen it. All I can say is stay with it until the final credits are rolling up the screen and donu0026#39;t let itu0026#39;s slow pace for the first 45 or so minutes or so make you turn it off the movie more then makes up for it in the end.”