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1973's Best Picture Academy Award winner reunited the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) collaborators of director George Roy Hill and his two matinee idol stars, Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The resulting caper film is simply genre-defining material. Redford's Johnny Hooker is a bright but green small-time pickpocket who is out for revenge after the villainous Doyle Lonnegan (a superb Robert Shaw) kills his accomplice, Luther. Hooker teams with veteran con man Henry Gondorff (Newman) to put 'the sting' on Lonnegan and con him out of thousands in 1930s Chicago.
David S. Ward's script is almost faultless, stirring the audience's emotions throughout the captivating 129 minutes as double-crosses, comedy and cockiness all play a major part in proceedings. Newman has even gone onto state in consequent interviews that during production, Ward's script was so easy to replicate in film that he cannot remember anyone even changing four words of dialogue or set-piece instruction. Titles for the different aspects of the scam work well as they keep the confused viewer familiar with what is happening on screen, but they also maintain the needed feeling of mystique successful films in this genre require. Hill's job was admittedly made easier by such a detailed screenwriting effort but nevertheless the look he creates is stunningly authentic. His two leads are not merely his directorial puppets though in this web of charming trickery. Devoid of profound sentiment they may be, but adding a deeper sense of characterisation would add unnecessarily to the running time. What Newman and Redford undertake victoriously however is a crusade to maintain their earlier on-screen chemistry, and they openly welcome Robert Shaw to share the delightful dialogue, and subsequent plaudits. Add Marvin Hamlisch's appropriate and enduring score to the placard of praise and you have a sublime work of directorial, storytelling and acting genius.
The extras
The bulk of this 'Special Edition' is made up of a 50 minute documentary entitled "The Art of The Sting". This insightful piece is literally cut into three separate featurettes to make the content seem more. Fortunately both Newman and Redford appear with the other stars that are still alive, but for the marketing deception of claiming the disc contains three documentaries, Universal's effort has to go punished. "A Perfect Script" correctly states that the screen craftsmanship involved in the film was incredible and also outlines how Newman accepted his role. Hollywood's most famous blue eyes were seemingly undeterred of having to play the so called 'secondary' part. Frankly, his role is just as important as Redford's even if the latter has more screen time – Newman was still billed first and rightly so (apart from this DVD cover). "Making a Masterpiece" and "The Legacy" are the other two decent slices of the same pie. A trailer and relatively extensive production notes (with at least one spelling mistake) complete the average package. On this 'Special Edition' we are not treated to any deleted scenes or commentary track(s) and the documentary selection is a rather average attempt at enticing the consumer to buy a 'Special Edition'. The documentary is attractive but nothing else appeals.
The summary
Multiple subplots and a cunningly well organized core narrative equate to a splendid final twist. Overall, a suspenseful parade of quality in every filmmaking department.
