Confidence tricks of the criminal variety depend on disbelief suspended in the air rather than wallowing around on the ground.

Director James Foley's scam totters a bit at times but just about manages to teeter on the highwire of credibility without coming crashing to earth.

Grifter-in-chief Jake Vig (where do they get these names?) leads a band of accomplished con artists who move from town-to-town plying their tricky trade.

There's wisecracking Gordo (Paul Giamatti), granite-jawed hunk Miles (Brian Van Holt) and the late Big Al (Louis Lombardi).

Al's terminal tardiness is down to the fact that a hitman for Los Angeles crime boss King (Hoffman) took him out after the team unknowingly fleeced his accountant.

Now King wants his moulah back and the only way Jake can repay the debt is by pulling off his biggest fraud yet.

But he needs to build the crew up, so while King forces him to take on placeman Lupus (Franky G) he recruits pickpocket Lily (Weisz) himself.

Foley adroitly steers the narrative back and forth without tearing any gaping holes in he plot and keeping the momentum up to speed.

He's helped by a laconic, explanatory voiceover from Jake and a rich gallery of rogues led by Hoffman's brutally "hyperactive" "crime kingpin.

There's a lot to enjoy, particularly a sublime seduction scene when the whole crew groom a corporate banker for their sting over dinner.

Smart and sassy, Foley just about pulls the wool over your eyes before the plot threatens to unravel.

Tim Evans