A ‘Sharper” view of charming cons

Continued from page 5 ered screenplay, that the grifters of “Sharper” – unlike, say, Paul Newman of “The Sting” or Leonardo DiCaprio of “Catch Me if You Can” – are a more sober variety of fabulist, less a stand-in for the make-believe of movies than a concept to question and interrogate.

As “Sharper,” smoothly helmed by British TV director Benjamin Caron, continues to widen, it brings in more characters and backstories, including a New York socialite (Julianne Moore, also a producer) who’s dating a billionaire widower (John Lithgow). But the progression begins to work against the film.

As “Sharper” turns increasingly melodramatic, we’re wellconditioned by then to look for the con, and see it coming a long ways out. The streetwise characters – especially the appealingly rigorous Max, who seems like he walked in from a Paul Schrader film or a David Mamet noir – also wouldn’t be so easily duped by the late plot maneuvers. After a promising start, “Sharper” grows duller.

But there’s plenty here to savor. Middleton, who had a small role in George Clooney’s “The Tender Bar,” brings such a shape-shifting radiance to the film that when she’s not present, the movie sags even as its star power increases.

And Stan, an actor I’ve not previously had a strong sense of, has never been so arresting on screen. His cool nonchalance gives “Sharper” a bracing edge.

The scenes that pair Middleton and Stan together are its most potent. Plus, who can resist a con that includes, to pose as a PhD student, cramming great quotes of literature? Oh, the riches that can be unlocked by “Call me Ishmael.”

“Sharper,” an A24 release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for language throughout and some sexual references. Running time: 116 minutes.