Monday, January 21, 2008

1.4 Cops and Robbers

The head of security for a major bank and a former grifter-catching cop has a tape of Danny involved in a casino robbery. He promises to give it to the police if Mickey doesn’t help him catch a man who is systematically robbing each of their bank branches, one by one.

Comments

Mickey is drawn into the compelling, moralistic reasons that Richards is robbing the bank. He is avenging the death of his father, who comitted suicide when the bank called in his loan. And he also wants to retrieve a special diamond that was owned by his grandfather, confiscated by the bank to cover the loan, and then never auctioned (so the bank could keep it all for themselves).

This was the first episode of Hustle I ever viewed, happening to catch it one night in Brisbane on ABC TV. It’s a good episode, filled with humor, conflict, and flirtatiousness, and it culminates with a very clever con.

Nits

During the silent movie, there is one quick camera movement (panning to follow the movement of the bottle as the bartender pours a drink for Danny) that looks incongruous.

Richards has an incredible wealth of inside information on the bank, including the exact day when they are moving the desired ‘rock’. How did he get this information?

Memorable Moments

  • Danny and Stacie pull off an old con involving a dog, and we see it filmed as a silent movie
  • Danny makes the move on Stacie, and when she refuses, things get a little tense
  • The team outsmarting the smarmy Victor Maher
  • Stacie and Danny whipping out their forbidden bank notes (and the joyous feeling of triumph at the end)

Quotable Quotes

Stacie: Game?
Danny: Dealer’s choice?
Stacie: Of course.
Danny: Strip poker.

Mickey: Can you do something for me?
Stacie: Yeah, I’ll go get the cards now if you’d like.

"Look, Albert, okay, is the roper. Okay, Ash does the fixin’. Mickey – inside man. Me? Me, I’m a floater. I mean, to me, that sounds like a turd."
- Danny

Danny: If I go away, so does the problem.
Mickey: That’s not an option.
Danny: What, cause of that whole family Musketeer thing?

No comments:

Post a Comment