Fool Me Once...

Ah, April the first, that glorious day when you simply can't believe the announcements that people make. Don't you just love the constant state of vigilance and having to sniff the whipped cream before topping your pie to make sure it's not shaving cream? Maybe you didn't have brothers like mine, though. Or friends like mine. Or co-workers like mine.

In honor of April Fool's Day, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite con/heist movies. As a general rule, I don't like those sort of movies (or books). Sometimes the characters come across as cruel and have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. But sometimes, as bad as the con artist may be, the person they're conning is even worse.

Take Ocean's Eleven, for example. These people plan to steal money from Las Vegas casinos, and the owner of these casinos is a real jerk. Now, I don't feel sorry for casinos as an entity in the first place. Their job is to tilt the odds in their favor and take money. Add to that an owner that the audience despises, and you're rooting for George Clooney to take all the cash and a couple of comped cocktails, too. But really, you're probably rooting for George Clooney anyway. At least, I do.

In Tower Heist, a group of workers fall victim to their boss's Ponzi scheme (almost typed Fonzie there). Their boss pulls a scam on them, and they, in turn, attempt to pull an even bigger one on him. It's a movie that reflects recent financial woes, both in the Ponzi scheme and in portraying the feeling that it's the 'little guy' against the wealthiest one percent. I started out just watching at this movie and soon forgot all about whatever else I was doing. Unlike many other con stories, I never felt that the group performing the con was ever unlikeable.

Feel free to recommend movies or books that made you root for the con artist. And watch out for the pranksters today.