Genre: Crime/Comedy/Drama
Director: Tom McCarthy
Writers: Mo Buck & Dominic Wilkins
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Michael Keaton, John Slattery, James Spader, Ann Dowd, Ellen Burstyn, Zach Galifianakis, Scoot McNairy, Garret Dillahunt, Neal McDonough, Keith Carradine
Plot: Low-life and uneducated, Nick Swan (Ryan Reynolds) still lives with his equally uneducated and lazy father, Bob (Michael Keaton) in their small studio in Los Angeles. How they manage to pay the rent remains a mystery, but despite their lack of income and social life, they both seem relatively happy. Nick spends most of his day smoking pot and playing video games, while Bob tries to work on his laughably bad impressions, despite his son’s reluctance. Their quietude is disturbed by an incoming call. Nick never answers, as his father insists to pick it up to try his impression on the unsuspected caller. It’s a telemarketing firm and Bob uses the call to do the best impression he has to offer: Jack Nicholson. The lady, barely speaking English, can’t believe she’s talking to the Jack Nicholson. Bob puts it on speaker phone. Nick, stoned, has a hard time to contain his laughter. Bob ends the call and these situations are killing him on the inside. They left the life they had a long time ago, left everything behind to come in L.A. so Bob could work in comedy clubs, doing his impression, but he never made it and doing this still hurts him inside. He was never able to live out of his “talent” and it will always a tough pill to swallow for him. He reminds that to his son, who says that it’s never too late for him to do it. He has an idea for his dad.
A couple of hours later, Bob follows his son around reluctantly and he begs to go back home, claiming his son should be playing video games, not forcing him to do something he doesn’t want to do. Nick assures him it’s going to be fun and he forces him to enter a comedy club, where Nick meets with the manager, revealing his father that he booked him a gig, for tonight, right now. Bob, ever scared to go up on a stage, as unprepared as ever, tries to talk the manager out of it, but he’s having none of it. Bob argues with his son that he shouldn’t have done that without asking him first. Nick says he has a great idea for tonight, they’ll do prank calls, live in front of the audience, it worked with the lady, it will certainly work again. Bob argues that the only reason she fell for it was because she had a hard time speaking English, let alone understanding it, but Nick thinks otherwise.
John (John Slattery) and James (James Spader) Pollock are two brothers who, although they don’t really look alike, think very much alike and like to dress the same. The put on their savviest brown corduroy jacket and leave out on the street, entering the comedy club where Bob Swan is supposed to perform later. They each grab a beer at the bar and they sit, awaiting for the evening to begin. In the alley behind the comedy club, Nick is rolling a joint, right before his father hits the stage, he will be up there with him as a show of support. He managed to be in charge of the phone and he’s stocked.
It’s now Bob’s turn to go on the stage and he’s introduced to little to no reaction from the crowd, being completely unknown. He presents the content of his number and a few people are intrigued by it. Nick takes the phone and he decides to ask for someone in the crowd for a person to prank. A man gives the number for his mother, a huge Frank Sinatra fan. Bob is a little worried, because his Sinatra impression isn’t really impressive, but he’ll give it a try anyway. They call the old lady and she has a hearing problem, so she really thinks it’s Frank Sinatra. He plays along with her for a couple of minutes to the crowd’s delight. He does a couple more, some work, some don’t really, but overall, he’s satisfied with his performance. When they get off stage, they are joined by John and James Pollock, who pose as Hollywood agents and they say they were impressed by their act. They schedule a meeting for tomorrow and they shouldn’t miss it for the world, before leaving. Bob is a little sceptical, but Nick, probably still a little high, is proud of his dad and ecstatic that his talent was recognized.
The following day, Bob and Nick are in front of the warehouse where they were supposed to meet with the Pollocks, but what they see doesn’t reassure Bob. They’re in front of a textile manufacture, one of the last of its kind in the surroundings of Los Angeles and he thinks they were set up. Upon the insistence of Nick, they go in, where they meet James and John. Right off the bat, Bob asks them if they are really Hollywood agents and this is where they revealed that they scammed both of them. They believe that together, they could do great things, so they proceed to pitch an idea to the duo that could make them rich. They are both expert scammers, the Pollocks scammed the Swans by making them believe that they were agents when they are simply owners of a small manufacture that employs just a couple of people and Bob can make certain people believe that he’s a famous person. They could use what they have to achieve something in their lives, something that could turn their lives around. Bob is unsure, so they do an example of what they could do. They give Bob a phone with a pre-written speech. It’s a sales pitch, but he does them with a celebrity’s voice, so the person on the phone believes the product he’s selling is endorsed by a famous person. The average person won’t be fooled by it, but old people will comply, rather easily, so they say. The thing he’s selling is a clothes package compromised of discarded products right here in the factory, so basically, they receive rags of clothes that won’t have any utility. Bob does a phone call and he’s able to fool an old man getting is credit information in the process. James goes online and he’s able to take money from the man. They made their first dollars of it. Bob asks if this is legal and they assure him that it is, they checked with lawyers and everything. Bob is still sceptical, but Nick is all for it, he thinks it’s a great opportunity for them to make money, more money than they ever made. To lure Bob in, the Pollocks tell him he has a talent they could use and Nick, well, he’s just Nick, they’ll figure something out. Bob finally budges and accept, but he’s still reticent, he doesn’t want to be the only one on calls duty.
The next day they meet again to finally start their little operation. James and John are already there, of course, and Nick and Bob come in afterwards. Since Bob expressed his resentment on being the only one who calls people, Nick found a way for him to get involve. James and John also took their time to think about it, but given Nick’s lack of distinguishable talent, they didn’t manage to find anything that could also get him involve, which is why they were more than happy than to learn that he thought of an idea on his own: he will be a more traditional scammer, resorting in more traditional ways to usurp money from people, not doing impressions, only getting money. They both sit down at their desk and pick up the phone, dialing numbers they were assigned. During this time, James and John look away, after all, they have a manufacture to run. They do calls after calls, Bob is way more efficient than Nick, but both of them have fun nevertheless. At the end of the day, they go back in James and John’s office, where they find both of them practicing their putting game to notify them that they will be leaving for the night. They take a look at the amount they raised during the day and both of them are satisfied.
The next day, Nick isn’t able to call people on the phone, instead he is tasked by John to ship the fraudulent boxes around town, to the people they scammed that are nearby. Of course, the number of old people in Los Angeles is somewhat limited, so, with Nick’s initiative, they decide to go national, so their clientele his bigger, if we can call it a clientele. He has another idea for the Pollocks, if he scams someone, in say… Denver, then they don’t need to send him a package and just say that it got lost in the mail, but of course, they will never be reached again, the number they gave to their customer leads directly to a McDonalds. On the first call of the day, Nick calls a number, a random number, a number like every other, like the ones he dialed yesterday, but the old lady seems really invested in the call. Her name is Diane Warren (Ellen Burstyn). She seems a little confused, which makes Bob feel a little bad. He insists a little and she finally gives in her credit card number and she has a hard time to even do this. When the call ends, Bob starts to wonder if any of this is ethical, if he’s not breaking any moral laws he has. He confesses his insecurities to James who refers him to Christian Fuller (Keith Carradine), their lawyer. Christian confirms that he checked in the law books (spoiler alert, he didn’t) and they’re not doing anything illegal as long as they actually send the boxes. Bob still has his doubts, but when he sees his son, back from his delivery run, happy, genuinely happy, he decides to not to a big fuss about it and to keep calling.
Diane’s daughter Suzan (Ann Dowd) comes back in the living room, only to see her mother with a credit card in her hands. She wonders what she has done this time and she takes it out of her hand. She looks at her mom, her eyes empty, denuded of life, devoid of any spark that was once there. Seeing her mother like that breaks her heart, but she doesn’t cry, she’s a tough woman, and she takes care of her sick mother. All this would be enough to overwhelmed an ordinary person, but the immense and undeniable love she has towards her mother pushes her to take care of her in these difficult times. She goes on the computer and checks the bank statement. She made a purchase with the card and she doesn’t know what she is. She contacts the phone number mentioned, but it leads to a McDonalds. She thinks something is fishy, so she grabs her phone and calls the PI that helped her when she was getting a divorce.
In a montage, we see the father and son duo having fun as they scam people over the phone, with the Pollocks looking on, still sitting in their office, counting the money. When Nick and Bob get their cut, they are listed as the secretaries at the manufacture to avoid suspicions. The montage ends on one night, when the Pollocks stayed late and have a meeting with Fuller. They ask if they could be held accountable if they ever get caught, and Fuller says he has a plan to get them out.
Andy Wayne (Scoot McNairy), the PI contacted by Suzan, meet in a café, where Suzan mentions that she doesn’t have a lot of time as she doesn’t want to leave her mother alone for a long time. Andy inquires how her mother is, and Suzan says her condition worsened since the last time she required Andy’s services. He says he dug deep, really deep, but he found nothing, it’s a dead end. He thinks her mother got scammed and he asks if they ever received something. They indeed received a box full of rags, now she definitely thinks it was a scam. She can’t believe someone would do this to vulnerable people like that, it’s disgusting. Andy agrees with her and he’ll ask around to see if he hears anything similar.
Back at the manufacture, Bob is on a break and he and Nick share stories of times they fooled people real bad. Nick is currently scamming a man real bad, posing as an African princess that wants to marry him, by communicating by e-mail with the man. They have fun time at the expense of the poor idiot who fell for it and can’t believe he actually sent money for her plane tickets.
On the other end of the spectrum, Norbert Nordström (Zach Galifianakis) is genuinely sad, looking all over the internet to try to see a news about a plane crash in the Atlantic, the Indian or the Pacific ocean, but nothing. No plane disappeared too. He looks one more time at the pictures of the African princess, who wanted to marry him. She received the payment, his bank statement can prove it. He decides to drown his sadness with whisky, but he decides to call his good friend, Kevin Garland (Garret Dillahunt). Kevin’s who’s an officer for the LAPD, receives a text from Norbert, who wants him to have a shoulder to cry on. He secretly wishes Norbert forgets about him, but a part inside him, his good side, will always have a soft spot for Norbert, who doesn’t have any other friends. He reluctantly accepts and wonders what saddened the poor man like that.
When he gets there, Norbert explains the situation to Kevin, his voice shaking, Kevin struggling not to laugh, it would break his already fragile heart even more. Kevin looks at the chain of events with an outsider point of view, and he clearly sees the signs, Norbert was catfished and scammed at the same time. He presents the problem, head on, to Norbert, who denies it all at first, convinced that she was still coming, but upon Kevin’s insistence, he realises that he is a complete idiot. Kevin loosens Norbert’s turtleneck and pours him another glass of whiskey, he’s going to need it. He puts on his favorite song and leaves for the evening, promising Norbert that he’s going to find the assholes.
That same evening, Suzan tries to get something out of her mother, who struggles to remember the circumstances of the day she was scammed. She’s now struggling to make up complete sentences, or even to create an organized thought, but a recurring theme in her gibberish is Frank Sinatra, her favorite singer. Suzan is convinced that it has something to do with it and she notes it down, to tell it to Andy, who believes the case is a complete dead end. Perhaps this detail will rejuvenate his desire to go on with the investigation. As she’s writing it down, she thinks it’s silly, but she makes sure to call Andy to tell him about it nevertheless.
One month later, James Pollock comes up to Nick and Bob and tells them to act normal as they have a legitimate business deal for the manufacture and they wouldn’t want, say Nick, to ruin it. Nick seizes the occasion to say that they won’t make as much money with the deal than they made for them. John comes in and says it’s exactly what he shouldn’t do. Their business partner, that the viewers recognize as Andy Wayne, passes just in front of Nick and Bob’s desks and both of them stare at him, he turns around and delivers an ice cold glare at them. When he enters the Pollock’s office, the Swans discuss their impression of Andy. They do their best to try to listen to the conversation, but no luck, but they can assess that the overall mood is good. A couple of minutes later, they leave the office and John presents both Nick and Bob to Andy, as their secretaries. Andy notes that it’s peculiar of them to have two male secretaries and Bob answers with his Sinatra impersonation that they are the best, that’s why. Andy leaves the manufacture, but not without shaking hands with both John and James. Andy is walking in the streets and he meets with Kevin, who’s patrolling on foot just a couple of blocks away. He mentions everything he saw inside, including Bob and his impression. He says the manufacture is way too small to generate the revenues they’re declaring and he can’t believe it’s just a mere coincidence. Kevin gives an envelope to Andy while thanking him. They go their separate way. He immediately calls Suzan and refers her to a lawyer, she’s going to need one soon.
Over the next few weeks, Kevin, each day, passes in front of the manufacture, hoping to see something unusual. In the first three weeks, nothing catches his attention, except this delivery truck who leaves the manufacture every day at about the same hour, with the same driver. One day, he decides to pass in front with his car and to follow the truck. He intercepts it, claiming his omitted to stop at a stop sign. Nick, the driver, argues a little bit, but just enough to piss off Kevin. He now orders a complete search of his truck as Nick argues that it’s an unnecessary and he believes he’s abusing of his authority. Kevin looks in the back and sees the fraudulent packages. He arrests Nick and puts him in the back of his car, leaving the truck in the streets. Kevin calls for backup and they go back to the manufacture, where he arrests Bob, James and John.
Back at the precinct, they requested Christian, their lawyer, who suggests that they don’t really answer the question. They say they have enough evidence to prove that they were scamming people but everything they say could be used against them, so they better be careful, especially the two loudmouths, Nick and Bob. They are all furious that they got caught because Nick blew a stop sign, especially his father. James and John and unusually calm. Kevin comes in and interrogates, the four suspects, but neither of them want to acknowledge who really scammed the people.
On their end, Suzan finally meets with Greg Marshall (Neal McDonough), the lawyer Andy recommended. They are waiting for another plaintiff to discuss the details. Norbert arrives in a hurry, the back of his turtleneck covered in sweat, breathing heavily. He says he’s sorry, but he ran all the way here and it’s further than he imagined. Greg says he should’ve taken the bus, but Norbert doesn’t take the bus, it’s too gross. He tells both of them that they will have to testify and with what the police discovered, they have a good chance of winning.
During this time, at the precinct, Christian has some alone time with the Pollocks, he confirms that he will do what was discussed. In another room, Nick and Bob are still arguing, but it soon comes to an end, when Nick starts to express remorse for ruining the whole thing. He was doing this to keep his father happy, happier than he ever saw him, but it all came crashing down because of him, the stupid idiot. Bob hugs his son and tells him that it’s not his fault, it could have happened to anyone.
One week later, in the courthouse, all four of them are on trial for fraud and a couple of other things. Greg presents the case. Hundreds of people are behind a massive movement and were scammed and are now officially suing Nick and Bob Swan as well as James and John Pollock. The first witness to testify is Norbert Nordström. He retells everything that happened to him, in detail, the conversations, the pictures and everything that came with it. At some point, Greg asks him to spare a little detail, they don’t want to know absolutely everything. He claims he was completely heartbroken about and he really believed that she was coming here to marry him. Norbert, his voice shaking, starts to sob on the stand. Nick remembers this particular scam vividly, he discussed it with his father as his best scam yet and probably the funniest he did, but he know feels bad for Norbert, now that he knows what he’s been through, he still thinks he looks funny, though.
The next witness is Diane Warren, but the judge quickly realises that they won’t get anything out of the poor woman, whose condition worsened even more. He calls her daughter to the stand instead, so she can testify on her behalf. She retells everything. The disease slowly taking her mother away from her, the struggle she has to live with daily and the unhuman feeling of watching her mother die slowly, losing all her dignity. She thinks its evil to take advantage of vulnerable people like that, as the crowd cheers in approval. She tells how her mother got influenced on giving her credit card number over the phone and every detail surrounding it. By the end of her testimony, she’s crying uncontrollably, like she’s letting out all the frustration and sadness she accumulated in the last couple of years, since her mother has been sick.
On Christian’s request, James and John Pollock are put on the stand at the same time. They present themselves as honest businessmen who are in charge of a manufacture. They made up a completely false story about how they hired Nick and Bob as their secretaries, about how they were insistent on the fact that they wanted to be hired together. They gave them complete freedom and they did their job well. What they did with their free time is unknown to both of them, as they are really busy men. The judge seems unconvinced by their complete ignorance on the subject, but they seemed to be able to convince him that they never scammed anyone directly. They were involve, but didn’t get their hands dirty. Nick and Bob try to argue, but Christian orders them to stay silent.
When Nick gets on the stand, he expresses remorse towards Norbert against Christian’s advice. He reveals that the whole thing was James and John’s idea and he only did it for his father, who seemed genuinely happy. He retells their life story to try to get sympathy from the judge, but it doesn’t seem to work. He says he regrets everything that he has done or could’ve done to everyone he scammed over the last few months. He understands he’s guilty, but so are James and John. The Pollocks try to interfere, boiling, but the judge shuts them up.
It’s now Bob’s time to go on the stand. He starts by admitting that everything that is son said is true and that everything the Pollocks said were lies. He admits his part in the scam and shows remorse and seeks forgiveness from the victims. He admits scamming Diane Warren and he remembers expressing doubts about the legality of the whole thing to Christian, who told him everything was legal and being a man without institution and being piss poor, he believed and carried on, because for the first time in his life he was able to live a seemingly normal life and he was happy to see his son… just happy too. He looks at Suzan in the eyes and begs for her forgiveness. He knows he acted like an asshole and he will live with this on his conscience until the end of his days. What he did was a disgrace and he knows it. The whole room is captivated by what he has to say, everybody listening closely. He accepts his culpability and he’s truly sorry for hurting anyone and the many old, vulnerable folks he stole money from. Bob sheds a tear on the stand and starts to cry uncontrollably. Nick gets up and he’s stopped by a security guard. The judge allows it and Nick joins his father up on the stand to hug him and to tell him it’s ok.
In the end, all four of them are declared guilty and are sentenced to prison sentences. Nick and Bob are heartbroken and they realise that their life is over. But then, the judge says something else. For their honesty and their confession, the judge sentenced Nick and Bob to a lesser sentence in a cushy prison, as if there are such things as cushy prisons. James and John and mad because Christian’s plan didn’t work and they start to realise he’s a really bad lawyer. Nick and Bob are still somewhat happy about it.
When Bob gets in prison, he uses his call to call Suzan. He begs her to not hang up, but she does anyway. He slides down the wall, sits down on the floor and looks around him, desperately. Nick, on the other side of the prison facility, found a new passion in drawing, where he takes art classes and does caricatures of famous people. He finally found something he’s good at. He looks down at his drawing, Frank Sinatra. He imagines his father impersonating him and throws the drawing away, a gesture symbolic of their new beginning.
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