Movie Con Artists Who Could Fool Almost Anyone

10.Evan in 'Dear Evan Hansen' (2021)

Okay, he's not really a con artist "on purpose." However, Ben Platt's titular character in 2021's Dear Evan Hansen (which is adapted from the 2015 stage musical of the same name with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul) finds himself effectively spinning an elaborate web of lies when the family of his late classmate, Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan), mistakenly believes that they were close friends. If Evan hadn't cracked under the pressure and spilled his own secrets, he would have had hundreds of people, both at school and across social media, wrapped around his little finger.

9.Lili Schroeder in 'The Good Liar' (2019)

[SPOILER ALERT] Bill Condon's 2019 movie The Good Liar follows con artist Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen) attempting to cheat a wealthy widow (Betty McLeish) out of her money. However, it turns out that her money was an invention used to lure Roy into a trap so she can act out a long-gestating revenge. If you can con a lifelong con artist, you deserve a spot on the list.

8.Wanda Gershwitz in 'A Fish Called Wanda' (1988)

In the wacky crime comedy A Fish Called Wanda, Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis) is part of a crew that pulls off a major jewel heist in London, only for a series of double-crosses and accidents to leave her with nothing but the key to a safety deposit box and a scheme to seduce the location of the jewels out of hapless married lawyer Archie Leach (John Cleese). If it weren't for the jealous Otto (Kevin Kline), her plan would probably have gone off without a hitch, considering her impressive ability to smoothly inhabit her character.

7.Harold Hill in 'The Music Man' (1962)

When he first shows up in River City in The Music Man (an adaptation of Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey's 1957 stage musical), Harold Hill's (Robert Preston) scheme is going pretty well. He's got a clever gimmick that involves swindling money out of the townspeople by taking donations to develop a marching band and then absconding with the cash. However, his heart proves to be his downfall, and his scheme is ruined when he falls in love with both the town and Marian "Madam Librarian" Paroo (Shirley Jones). Hence his placement just outside the Top 5.

6.Caroline & Oliver in 'Carolina Caroline' (2026)

Adam Carter Rehmeier's Carolina Caroline is a romantic crime spree movie that brings Bonnie and Clyde-style storytelling into the modern age as it follows con artist Oliver Anderson (Kyle Gallner) teaching everything he knows to his new lover, Caroline Daniels (Samara Weaving). While the movie largely focuses on them robbing a series of banks, they smoothly pull off a number of impressive cons in the process, both large and small.

5.Max & Page in 'Heartbreakers' (2001)

Max (Sigourney Weaver) and Page Conners (MGM Distribution Co.) are notable as the only mother-daughter duo on the list. Max mentors Page in the art of the con, which spurs a major comedy of errors in Heartbreakers as the two attempt to con a wealthy widower amid Page's desire to go solo as a conwoman. They're both so good at what they do that the plan goes very awry, but you can't fault them for being skilled, only for using those skills against one another from time to time.

4.Janet Colgate in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' (1988)

[SPOILER ALERT] While Helen Mirren's The Good Liar character pulled off an impressive feat in her movie, Janet Colgate (Glenne Headly) did her one better by playing two con artists (Steve Martin and Michael Caine) against one another for the entire runtime of Frank Oz's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (which is a remake of the 1964 Marlon Brando movie Bedtime Story).

3.Hooker & Gondorff in 'The Sting' (1973)

When it comes to crime movies, there's very little that's more satisfying than watching con artists' schemes come together as they fly by the seat of their pants. Watching Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) and Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) pull off their wild plans, with a little help from their friends, is what makes The Sting such an effervescent classic. Critics and audiences certainly seemed to think so at the time. In addition to grossing a whopping $257 million against a $5.5 million budget, the movie went on to win seven Oscars (including Best Picture) and spawn a sequel, a stage musical, and a novelization.

2.Tom Ripley in 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' (1999)

Like quite a few of the con artists on this list, Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) doesn't make his first-ever appearance in the film in question. Before 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley, the character was the lead in a series of novels by Patricia Highsmith, installments of which had already been adapted for the big screen twice (1960's Purple Noon, which starred Alain Delon, adapted The Talented Mr. Ripley, and 1977's The American Friend, which starred Dennis Hopper, adapted Ripley's Game).

However, it's hard to deny the nail-biting thrills of Anthony Minghella's sumptuous, star-studded 1999 adaptation, which also featured Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Cate Blanchett. While Tom Ripley isn't a perfect con artist, considering the fact that his attempts to take over the life of Dickie Greenleaf (Law) see him constantly in danger of being found out, the way he manages to slip out of trouble at the last moment feels like watching an accomplished circus performer walk a tightrope.

1.Frank Abagnale Jr. in 'Catch Me If You Can' (2002)

When it comes to suave, clever, and engaging con artists on the big screen, look no further than Leonardo DiCaprio's Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can. While Abagnale Jr. is a real person (his semi-autobiographical 1980 book of the same name was the basis for the Steven Spielberg movie), DiCaprio elevates his larger-than-life storytelling into a larger-than-life spectacle well worth the talents of both Spielberg and his co-star Tom Hanks.