I'm not a huge fan of slapstick. I recognize that Steve Martin's performance is humorous but the only times I laughed were the more subtle moments, like when the two Australian sailors in the bar offer to help him get rid of Michael Caine. There's this momentary flash across his eyes that I found brilliant.
The movie is about a high-class con man (Michael Caine) working the French Riviera whose territory is intruded upon by a decidedly lower-rent grifter named Freddy (Steve Martin). Freddy figures out pretty quickly that he is at the threshold of a brand new world here and harasses/blackmails Lawrence into giving him a Pygmalion-style makeover. If Eliza Doolittle had been a compulsive liar, you'd have this movie.
Lawrence is still trying to get Freddy off his turf and the pair come up with a bet: whoever can scam $50K from Janet Colgate, the American Soap Queen (Glenne Headly), first wins and the loser has to leave town. Schemes and counter-schemes abound as the two con artists try and out-maneuver each other. I found it to be fairly predictable, but that may just be because it has been copied so often by later films.
Also, Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine) is in this movie as the butler, Arthur, and it's a complete waste. He only had 5 lines and almost zero plot involvement. A damn shame.
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