62 - The Sting

    After a con results in robbing the wrong guy, a mentor con artist is killed.  His protege decides to put together an elaborate con to make things right.  He enlists the help of another skilled artist, as well as deals with some local police on his trail.
    Currently #96 on the IMDB top 250, and I'm not positive why.  It's a good movie.  It's very well made, it's unique, it's influential.  The performances are remarkably great, especially Paul Newman during the poker game.  And the story is enjoyable, but I don't feel like the structure is up to par with modern styles of telling the same type of story.
    When you first see Ocean's 11, or almost any other heist/scam movie, the audience is played in a much more comprehensive way.  We understand only as much as we're supposed to at any given point, and we get a string of reevaluations that put everything into place.  With The Sting, we actually stay on top of things for most of the picture.  We know exactly what they're doing, with the exception of one specific point, which allows for a final reveal to play out.  This is an effective one, but I suppose I'm just letting my expectations get the better of me.  I was hoping for more than one payoff.
    I'd never say that it's bad, and I'm sure that this structure influenced most of the modern movie heists that I hold dear, but it just doesn't reach the same peaks.