''Swindled'' or ''Taken In'' () is a 2004 Spanish-French thriller film directed by

Miguel Bardem Miguel Bardem (born 1964) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. Life Bardem comes from a well-known family of actors. His father was director Juan Antonio Bardem, and his aunt is actress Pilar Bardem. Pilar's children, Javier, Mónica ...

which stars

Ernesto Alterio Ernesto Federico Alterio Bacaicoa (born 25 September 1970) is an Argentine-Spanish film, theatre, and television actor. He is the son of Argentine actor Hector Alterio. Early life Alterio is the son of psychologist Modesta Ángela Bacaicoa Des ...

Victoria Abril Victoria Mérida Rojas (born 4 July 1959), better known as Victoria Abril, is a Spanish film actress and singer based in France. She is possibly best known to international audiences for her performance in the film '' Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' b ...

, and

Federico Luppi Federico Luppi (; February 23, 1936 – October 20, 2017) was an Argentine film, television, radio and theatre actor. He won numerous awards throughout his acting career. Biography Luppi worked mostly in Argentine cinema, but also worked in Ch ...

Plot

After a time learning the ropes with aging Manco, swindler Ernesto ends up teaming up with alpha

conman A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...

Federico. Federico's former lover Pilar persuades the former to pull a large-scale scam.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was written by Carlos Martín and Miguel Bardem. A Spanish-French co-production, the film was produced by Alquimia Cinema and Mandarin Films in association with

Telemadrid Telemadrid is a public television station in the Community of Madrid, Spain, the flagship channel of the regional public broadcaster Radio Televisión Madrid (RTVM). It began its broadcast on 2 May 1989. History First years Telemadrid was cr ...

, Canal 9,

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, and TVE. Shooting locations included

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and the

province of Segovia Segovia () is a province of central/northern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the province of Burgos in the north, Soria in the northeast, Guadalajara in the east, Madrid in the south, ...

Release

The film was presented in the official selection of the 7th

Málaga Film Festival The Málaga Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since ...

in April 2004. Distributed by Hispano Foxfilm, it was theatrically released in Spain on 9 July 2004.

Reception

Todd Brown of ''

ScreenAnarchy ScreenAnarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

'' pointed out that even if the film would have benefited from giving the characters "a little

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

time to pause and breathe", "it is nonetheless an entertaining caper film, one in which nothing is ever quite as it seems". Jonathan Holland of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' deemed the "effective but inelegant grifters" film to be as "hyperactive, ostentatious and hollow as the characters it describes", and unable to hold after its first hour. Mirito Torreiro of ''

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is a Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be "an entertaining device to narrate an already-seen story, but to which Bardem's narrative pulse gives a good rhythm", otherwise singling out a "splendid" Victoria Abril as the film's standout.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "3" , 2005 , , rowspan = "3" ,

19th Goya Awards The 19th Goya Awards took place in Madrid, Spain on 30 January 2005. ''The Sea Inside ''The Sea Inside'' () is a 2004 psychological drama film co-written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar, who also co-produced, scored and edited. It is based ...

, , Best Editing , , Iván Aledo , , , , rowspan = "3" , , - , Best Original Song , , "Corre" by Bebe , , , - , Best Sound , , Jaime Fernández, Pierre Lorraine, Polo Aledo , ,

References

{{authority control Films shot in Madrid Films shot in the province of Segovia 2000s Spanish films 2000s French films Spanish thriller films French thriller films 2000s Spanish-language films