He's busted on the second attempt but saved by Richard (John C. Reilly), an older, more experienced con artist who poses as a policeman and 'apprehends' the would-be crook before any real law enforcement officers arrive on the scene.

It transpires that Richard has been looking for someone to replace his old partner by helping him pull scams and Rodrigo, whose father is in trouble over gambling debts, is just desperate enough to do it.

You get the impression that Richard hasn't got a decent bone in his body as he cons money out of anybody he can - including an old impressionable granny - and this suspicion is confirmed when we learn that he's even swindled his brother and sister (Maggie Gyllenhaal) out of their inheritance.

But the two men soon land a big break and take time-out from a series of schemes that amount to little more than small change when they get their hands on an expertly forged copy of an extremely rare 1878 Monroe Silver Certificate.

Due to tax concerns Hannigan, a multi-millionaire and collector of antique currency, has to leave the US the very next day and Richard knows he won't be able to resist adding the Certificate to his collection.

Better yet, because lab tests would take at least a week, there's virtually no chance that the fraud will be unearthed.

Richard and Rodrigo can hardly say no to a seemingly fool-proof scheme with a payoff of $750,000. Negotiating their way through a succession of swindlers, they attempt to pull off the biggest caper of their lives...

This slick offering has everything you could want from a caper movie; a great cast, great story, a large dollop of humour and more plot twists than you could shake a stick at. It'd be criminal to miss it.

Dominic Bloch