Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Movie Poster

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, released in 1988, was a great comedy directed by Frank Oz.  The movie starred Steve Martin as Freddy Benson and Michael Caine as Lawrence Jaimieson.  The movie received mostly positive reviews, and made some big bucks at the box office.  Michael Caine was even nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.  This movie is still considered by many to be one of the funniest movies ever releases.

In this movie, Lawrence Jamieson (Caine) is a debonair con man who courts rich old ladies and then robs them blind.  His biggest concern is with a rival called "The Jackal", who is also in the business of conning old women.  When another con named Freddy Benson (Martin) starts honing in on Jamieson's territory, Lawrence thinks that Freddy is "the Jackal", and a rivalry begins.  Initially, a deal is struck between the two, with Lawrence serving as the teacher and Freddy the student.

When Freddy begins feeling like their is plenty of rich old women in the French Riviera to go around, the two make a deal.  The first to extract 50k from rich old lady Janet Colgate gets to stay in town, the loser must walk away.  When the two realize that Janet is not rich, but instead a kindhearted woman, the deal becomes whether or not Freddy can bed her.  If he does, Lawrence must leave, and if not, Freddy must leave.  The rest of the movie is about how Freddy tries, and Lawrence makes it impossible.  In the end, it was Janet who was "the Jackal", and she who robs them both.  All is well that ends well, however, as she invites the pair to team up with her on her next con.