It's no mistake that the main character's name is "Penny Wise" because in the end he turns out to be "pound foolish".
Here is a man who is a professional telemarketer (I suppose there are those things) who is wise in the ways of the game. He knows how to work a call and what to say to close the deal, which feeds his competitive spirit.
But he's not as smart as he thinks he is, because he gets hooked by the wrong people, who are charismatic and charming and convincing, believing their story about a mine that will make them all rich, if only they can get to the riches. He is skeptical at first, but eventually decides it's all legit and signs on. Not only does he eventually get scammed the way he has been scamming the people he phones, but he falls for one of the scammers -- the oldest trick in the book -- men are so easy -- and gets hurt, not only in the wallet, but in his heart.
Penny Wise is someone we want to dislike because of his job, but he is shown taking care of his alcoholic, homeless friend, so in spite of his greed and manipulative ways we're supposed to say, "Aww, he must have a heart of gold because he's nice to the crippled guy," but it didn't work for me. A scam-artist is still a scam-artist as far as I'm concerned, so I really didn't have much compassion for him and was glad he finally knew what it felt like to be on the other end of the scam.
As far as his telemarketing "skills" went, if he spoke to me the way he spoke to cold-call clients I don't think I'd be having a very long conversation with him. He cussed a blue streak at them, insulted them, and berated them when they hesitated, and they still gave him their trust and money. I found this to be rather contradictory and completely unrealistic.
The ending is just plain stupid, because no bank in the world will let just anyone walk in and withdraw money from somebody else's account, whether the balance is eighty thousand dollars or eight bucks, on the strength of only a letter and a marriage certificate.
But even though the ending was stupid and the characters were unlikeable because of what they did for a living, I thought the movie as a whole was good. It was nice to see Vince Vaughn in a calmer and more dramatic role than he usually takes, and Ed Harris was perfect as the prime gig mastermind. Julia Ormond was the exception, though, in that she seemed too wishy-washy and didn't come off as strong or as devious as her character should have been.
Here is a man who is a professional telemarketer (I suppose there are those things) who is wise in the ways of the game. He knows how to work a call and what to say to close the deal, which feeds his competitive spirit.
But he's not as smart as he thinks he is, because he gets hooked by the wrong people, who are charismatic and charming and convincing, believing their story about a mine that will make them all rich, if only they can get to the riches. He is skeptical at first, but eventually decides it's all legit and signs on. Not only does he eventually get scammed the way he has been scamming the people he phones, but he falls for one of the scammers -- the oldest trick in the book -- men are so easy -- and gets hurt, not only in the wallet, but in his heart.
Penny Wise is someone we want to dislike because of his job, but he is shown taking care of his alcoholic, homeless friend, so in spite of his greed and manipulative ways we're supposed to say, "Aww, he must have a heart of gold because he's nice to the crippled guy," but it didn't work for me. A scam-artist is still a scam-artist as far as I'm concerned, so I really didn't have much compassion for him and was glad he finally knew what it felt like to be on the other end of the scam.
As far as his telemarketing "skills" went, if he spoke to me the way he spoke to cold-call clients I don't think I'd be having a very long conversation with him. He cussed a blue streak at them, insulted them, and berated them when they hesitated, and they still gave him their trust and money. I found this to be rather contradictory and completely unrealistic.
The ending is just plain stupid, because no bank in the world will let just anyone walk in and withdraw money from somebody else's account, whether the balance is eighty thousand dollars or eight bucks, on the strength of only a letter and a marriage certificate.
But even though the ending was stupid and the characters were unlikeable because of what they did for a living, I thought the movie as a whole was good. It was nice to see Vince Vaughn in a calmer and more dramatic role than he usually takes, and Ed Harris was perfect as the prime gig mastermind. Julia Ormond was the exception, though, in that she seemed too wishy-washy and didn't come off as strong or as devious as her character should have been.