A.J. Hakari
11-28-2001, 05:35 PM
This unnecessary, ill-conceived sequel is wrong in so many ways...
Years after getting the best of rackets boss Doyle Lonnegan (Oliver Reed, replacing Robert Shaw), the con team of Hooker (Mac Davis, replacing Robert Redford) and Gondorff (Jackie Gleason, replacing Paul Newman) have parted ways. But one day, Hooker receives an invitation to visit his old friend, who's just been released from prison, in Florida. Together, they concoct a scheme to con a loudmouthed mobster (Karl Malden) by having Hooker pose as a a boxer in a rigged match. But hiding in the shadows is Lonnegan, still miffed at being swindeled, who's killing all of his old enemies one by one...and Hooker's next on the list.
Why? Why, God, why? Why did THE STING II have to be made? Granted, the detail is nice, the performances aren't horrible, and the ragtime score is decent...but WHY?! THE STING II serves no purpose except to embarrass everyone involved and just make the original seem so much better. You think we wouldn't notice the sudden jump between a lean, gray-haired Paul Newman to a fairly dark-headed, very pudgy Jackie Gleason doing the same role? Cut me an oversized wedge, people...And to think David S. Ward wrote this movie too...How can someone write something so brilliant and stunning, then turn around and make a mess of himself?
** is too kind for this movie...I didn't hate it completely, but I'm still wondering why this movie got made in the first place, and why Teri Garr became so damn annoying in this flick...
Years after getting the best of rackets boss Doyle Lonnegan (Oliver Reed, replacing Robert Shaw), the con team of Hooker (Mac Davis, replacing Robert Redford) and Gondorff (Jackie Gleason, replacing Paul Newman) have parted ways. But one day, Hooker receives an invitation to visit his old friend, who's just been released from prison, in Florida. Together, they concoct a scheme to con a loudmouthed mobster (Karl Malden) by having Hooker pose as a a boxer in a rigged match. But hiding in the shadows is Lonnegan, still miffed at being swindeled, who's killing all of his old enemies one by one...and Hooker's next on the list.
Why? Why, God, why? Why did THE STING II have to be made? Granted, the detail is nice, the performances aren't horrible, and the ragtime score is decent...but WHY?! THE STING II serves no purpose except to embarrass everyone involved and just make the original seem so much better. You think we wouldn't notice the sudden jump between a lean, gray-haired Paul Newman to a fairly dark-headed, very pudgy Jackie Gleason doing the same role? Cut me an oversized wedge, people...And to think David S. Ward wrote this movie too...How can someone write something so brilliant and stunning, then turn around and make a mess of himself?
** is too kind for this movie...I didn't hate it completely, but I'm still wondering why this movie got made in the first place, and why Teri Garr became so damn annoying in this flick...