The Grifters 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

The Grifters 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 23, 2024

Stephen Frears' "The Grifters" (1990) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with Annette Bening; archival audio commentary recorded by Stephen Frears, John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and screenwriter Donald E. Westlake; archival documentary about the production of the film; vintage trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Note: The text below was initially used for our review of StudioCanal's release of The Grifters in 2009.

The Grifters follows the deeds of three con artists: Roy Dillon (John Cusack), a salesman who steals as often and as much as he can; his mistress, Myra Langtry (Annette Bening), who also has a gig of her own, though Roy knows nothing about it; and his mother, Lilly (Angelica Houston), who has been loyal to the mob for years but is finally getting ready to call it quits.

When Roy gets beat up in a bar and ends up in ER, Lilly immediately shows up to help him out. When Myra does too, all hell breaks loose. Before the women part ways, they tell each other exactly what is on their minds, initiating a rivalry that complicates everyone’s work.

In the days ahead, Roy and Myra end up in La Jolla, to relax and spend some much-needed time together, However, at the right time, Myra reveals that she is a con artist too and begs Roy to let her join his ‘business’. While Roy and Myra’s relationship begins evolving, Lilly, who has figured out that Myra is not in love with her son but trying to get her hands on his savings, proceeds to teach her a lesson.

The Grifters was British director Stephen Frears’ first American project. Before it, he had made a name for himself with two other films -- the quirky comedy Prick Up Your Ears and the period dramedy Dangerous Liaisons. The latter earned seven Oscar nominations and took home three of the coveted statuettes.

Frears directed The Grifters two years after Dangerous Liaisons. When Oscar nominations were announced, The Grifters picked up four, including one for Best Director, but later did not win any of the coveted statuettes. It probably should have. It is a wonderfully conceived, acted, and directed film, which probably deserves the reputation of a genre classic.

The three con artists are excellent and, perhaps most importantly, look very authentic. In their acts, the three continuously surprise with brilliant improvisations revealing something meaningful about their personalities, too. As a result, the drama that flourishes in the first half does not have a lot in common with the one that wraps up The Grifters.

Lilly and Roy's mother-son relationship could have been the centerpiece in an entirely different film. It could have been a neo-noir film again, but one that examines the damage their relationship has sustained because of their inability to walk away from the ‘business’.

Fans of The Grifters should track down Miguel Bardem’s film Incautos. In North America, it is distributed under the more revealing title Swindled. This film teams up the great Argentinean actor Federico Luppi with Pedro Almodovar’s frequent collaborator Victoria Abril and youngster Ernesto Alterio. The three also play skilled con artists whose antics are extremely similar to the ones seen in The Grifters.

The Grifters 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of The Grifters is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this release:

"Supervised and approved by director of photography Oliver Stapleton, this new 4K master was created from the 35mm original negative. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic track. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the 2.0 surround soundtrack.

When The Grifters was released in 1990, the 35mm prints that circulated were made using a "bleach bypass" process. Skipping the bleach in color-film development yields reduced saturation, higher contrast, and grain. As part of the work on this release, Stapleton's personal 35mm bleach-bypass print, which he screened for mastering supervisor Lee Kline and colorist Greg Fisher at the BFI in London, served as a guideline for grading the scans of the negative. The resulting 4K presentation comes closer to the film's intended look than any other version since the theatrical prints.

Mastering supervisor: Lee Kline, Giles Sherwood.
Colorist: Greg Fisher/Company 3, London.
Image restoration: Prasad Corporation, Burbank, CA.
Audio restoration: The Criterion Collection."

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-25 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #28-34 are taken from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces an exclusive new 4K makeover of The Grifters, approved by director of photography Oliver Stapleton. In native 4K, the 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view with Dolby Vision and later spent time with the 1080p presentation of it on the Blu-ray.

I have one other release of The Grifters in my library, which is this Blu-ray release produced by StudioCanal in 2009. It is barely serviceable. It offers some minor upgrades over a previous DVD releases of the film, but it is sourced from a very, very old master with plenty of issues. So, I was very much looking forward to the combo pack, hoping that it would be a tremendous upgrade in quality, as well as the definitive home video release of the film. I viewed the 4K makeover two days ago on 4K Blu-ray, and last night, I also viewed it on Blu-ray. I just wanted to make sure that my feelings for it are final.

This 4K makeover is quite the head-scratcher. It gives the film its healthiest appearance to date, but it alters it in such a dramatic way that certain parts of it just do not look right. Why exactly? The entire film looks much cooler and seriously tealed now, causing select primary colors to essentially collapse and disappear. The most striking changes are during daylight footage, where the tealing is very strong. I think that it affects certain shadow nuances too. I have never seen this film look like this, including at the theater. Indoor footage, and especially the one where light is restricted, tends to look a bit better, but even there the effects of the changes are easy to recognize. This is very disappointing because the previous presentation of the film has other issues, some again related to color reproduction, and its overall quality is underwhelming. I suppose the good news here is that in many areas delineation, clarity, and depth are quite strong. Also, the entire film looks a lot healthier. However, the 4K makeover does not reproduce the film's original theatrical appearance.

I sampled various darker areas to see how they look in native 4K and 1080p. In a few areas, I think that the Dolby Vision grade flattens existing dark nuances a bit. The most obvious examples are in the final third of the film. In 1080p, the same areas look marginally better, but I noticed some compression artifacts. My score is 3.25/5.00.

The Grifters 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is very clear and easy to follow. I pulled up my Blu-ray release and ran a few quick comparisons because it has a 5.1 track. The 2.0 track is perfectly fine and healthier. The audio is very thick and free of any age-related imperfections. Also, my old Blu-ray release does not have optional English SDH subtitles, while this release does.

The Grifters 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Stephen Frears, John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and screenwriter Donald E. Westlake. A lot of the information that is shared addresses the complex, constantly evolving relationships between the three characters, some improvements that were made while the shooting progress was underway, the unique humor that permeates the film, the nifty games that are played before the camera, etc. The commentary was recorded in 2013.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Stephen Frears, John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and screenwriter Donald E. Westlake. A lot of the information that is shared addresses the complex, constantly evolving relationships between the three characters, some improvements that were made while the shooting progress was underway, the unique humor that permeates the film, the nifty games that are played before the camera, etc. The commentary was recorded in 2013.

• The Making of The Grifters - this archival program takes a closer look at the production of The Grifters and its characters. Included in it are clips from interviews with Stephen Frears, screenwriter Donald E. Westlake, production designer Dennis Gassner, Anjelica Huston, and John Cusack. The program was produced in 2013. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• Annette Bening - in this exclusive new program, Annette Bening recalls her initial impressions of the screenplay for The Grifters and consequently what it was like to work with Stephen Frears and other cast members. Also, there are some interesting comments about Jim Thompson and his novel. The program was produced in 2024. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Seduction, Betrayal, Murder - in this archival program, Stephen Frears, cinematographer Oliver Stapleton, editor Mick Audsley, executive producer Barbara De Fina, and coproducer Peggy Rajski recall their collaboration on The Grifters. The program was produced in 2018. In English, not subtitled. (75 min).

• The Jim Thompson Story - this archival program takes a closer look at Jim Thompson and his legacy, whose novel inspired Stephen Frears to shoot The Grifters. Included in it are clips from interviews with screenwriter Donald E. Westlake and Thompson biographer Robert Polito. The program was produced in 2013. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Grifters. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien, as well as technical credits.

The Grifters 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Criterion's upcoming combo pack release introduces a new 4K makeover of The Grifters that many people will find controversial. I did, too. Over the years, I have gone through numerous releases of this film, which I like a lot, and they have all had various problems. I wanted the combo pack to be the definitive release of The Grifters, but I can only praise the excellent selection of exclusive new and archival bonus features that are included on it.