An experienced grifter takes a younger confrere
under his wing for the theft of a block of stamps called the ‘Nine
Queens’ in Fabian Bielinsky’s caper-within-a-caper debut
film, which runs as smoothly as a well-rehearsed con. The premise, indeed
the whole movie, is held together only by surface tension, yet that
tension is skillfully and humorously maintained throughout. The pace
is brisk and the rhythm unforced, and the dialogue jogs companionably
alongside the plot’s snaky twists and turns. The actors are charismatic,
particularly Ricardo Darín as the pro whose blend of charm and
desperation plays well against the wide-eyed earnestness of his partner
Gastón Pauls and the squadron of street-smart characters the
two pick up along the way. Widely hailed in Argentina as proof that
homegrown products can compete with American studio fare, Nine Queens’
ability to breathe new life into old Hollywood chestnuts lies paradoxically
in its Argentinean rhythms and savvily casual-looking locations, from
corner bodegas to luxury high-rises. — Ronnie Schieb, Chicago
Reader. David Mamet might kill for a script as good as the one
that fuels Nine Queens. A seductively structured and superbly
acted suspenser that breathtakingly piles swindle upon scam without
giving away the game until the very end, Fabien Bielinsky’s debut
feature has been the biggest smash in its native Argentina in at least
a decade… Longtime assistant director Bielinsky got the chance
to make his film when he bested 350 competitors in a screenplay competition
for which the top prize was production funding for the winning script.
It is the scenario that gives this thoroughly assured work its greatest
distinction, but in every respect Bielinsky reveals the instincts of
a filmmaker keen to please through clever dramatic manipulation that
respects, rather than insults, the audience’s intelligence. —
Todd McCarthy, Variety
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