Plot

Jake Vig is a consummate grifter about to pull his biggest con yet, one set to avenge his friend's murder. But his last scam backfired, leaving him indebted to a mob boss and his enforcer.

Jake Vig leads a small Los Angeles based team of grifters, each member who has his specific role in each con: Jake is the main man, Miles the adversary, Big Al the scared innocent bystander, and Gordo the dead shooting victim. He also has in his pockets crooked LAPD detectives Lloyd Whitworth and Omar Manzano who basically play themselves as needed. Beyond getting the money, the basic goal of each con is to ensure the mark is so scared by what has happened - usually being an accomplice in a "murder" - that he won't come back looking for the money. Jake learns the hard way that their latest mark, Louis Dolby, who they fleeced for $150,000, was carrying money for a criminal named King, who takes a no prisoners approach in getting even, he who knows who stole his money. Instead of returning the $150,000 to King, money which he no longer has anyway, Jake convinces King to parlay that money and a bit more into a bigger con against a mark of King's choice, that person being banker Morgan Price, a second generation mobster. The total take for this con is to be $5 million. Beyond co-opting a couple of inside people for this con, King wants one of his own men inserted - Lupus - and Jake also enlists the work of a female pickpocket he recently ran across named Lily, to who he is attracted. During the process, a small wrinkle occurs when they learn that Special Agent Gunther Butan with the US Customs Agency, an old adversary of Jake's, is currently after him, which means they either have to call off the international mission or watch more carefully their movements, with Jake not to be the one to carry any money across the border. But with a group of con artists working for the first time with new players, a question becomes are there any inside cons at play, especially in this case where Jake has more of a personal stake than usual.—Huggo

What Jake Vig doesn't know just might get him killed. A sharp and polished grifter, Jake has just swindled thousands of dollars from the unsuspecting Lionel Dolby with the help of his crew: Insideman Gordo, Shills Miles, and Big Al--and two corrupt LAPD officers, Lloyd Whitworth and Omar Manzano. But when both Lionel and Big Al turn up dead, it becomes clear that Lionel wasn't just any mark--as Jake soon learns, he was an accountant for eccentric crime boss Winston King. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Jake offers to repay The King by pulling off the biggest con of his career. The mark? Morgan Price, a banker with deep ties to organized crime. With so much riding on the outcome, Jake decides to bring in a brash, blonde pickpocket named Lily, who joins the crew in a complex scheme involving corporate loans, creative accounting, wire transfers and off-shore accounts. Jake and his crew will have to stay one step ahead of both the criminals and the cops to finally settle their debt.—Sujit R. Varma

A group of Grifters rip off their latest mark and celebrate, while the group leader, Jake Vig (Edward Burns), explains the art of the con. In their latest con, they get their mark Lionel Dolby (Leland Orser) to pay them a briefcase full of money, to get away from being an accomplice to an apparent homicide (Jake made it look like he shot Gordo in a drug deal gone wrong). The local cops Omar and Lloyd work with Jake for a 10% cut, to add to the dramatic effect.

When one of the four, Big Al (Louis Lombardi), is found shot to death, the other three learn that the latest money they stole belonged to a local Los Angeles crime lord known as The King (Dustin Hoffman). Lionel was an accountant for The King, and the money he gave to Jake was collection money that Lionel was holding on The King's behalf. When questioned, Lionel revealed the the sequence of events with Jake and his group. The King tracked Big Al, when Al made a large cash payment to a bookie, and bragged about how he had carried out a big score, which netted him the cash.

Jake goes to meet The King, and accepts that he didn't know that Lionel worked for him. But he refuses to pay back the money, since The King killed Al. The Kind orders that the Grifters work for him and steal money from Morgan Price (Robert Forster), a rival who owns a bank.

Jake enlists the aid of his remaining partners, Gordo (Paul Giamatti) and Miles (Brian Van Holt), and also convinces an independent con artist named Lily (Rachel Weisz) to round out their foursome. The King, a ruthless killer with ADHD, demands that one of his men, Lupus (Franky G), also go along.

The con involves bribing a bank vice president to wire $5 million money offshore disguised as a business loan. Jake will withdraw the money and bring it back into the US in a carry on bag. Jake owed The King only $150,000. Jake asks The King to lend him $200,000 to bribe the banker. The King is livid with Jake, but Jake is confident of himself, and The King does extend him the additional credit. The gang finds Leon Ashby (John Carroll Lynch), VP of Corporate loans at Price Bank and decide that he will be the mark. Leon has no friends, no family, no life.

Lily is the shell, who is supposed to make the whole pitch believable to Leon. But Lily dresses in a red wig, and wears a pigeon themed scarf, both of which Jake says has put a huge jinx on the entire operation. Lily proceeds with the plan and makes initial contact with Leon, posing as a start-up executive, looking for a business loan. She invites Leon for dinner with the gang, who also play their roles as executives of the start up. At dinner, the group convinces Leon that they have a buyer lined up for the company at 5-6X valuation, and need the loan for working capital till the sale takes place. That night Jake and Lily have sex. Leon agrees to sanction the loan the next day, in exchange for his own cut.

The plan hits a snag when Special Agent Gunther Butan (Andy García) shows up in Los Angeles looking to finally bust Jake, who he has followed for years. Butan forces corrupt LAPD detectives Omar Manzano (Luis Guzman) and Lloyd Whitworth (Donal Logue) to switch their allegiance from Jake to him. Butan had videotapes of Omar and Lloyd dealing in drugs, which could put them away for a long time.

After hearing about Butan's arrival, a nervous Jake pulls the plug on the whole con. He screams at Lily when she presses Jake to continue with the scam with some changes, making her walk out. Lupus gets Jake to reconsider nixing the con, hinting that The King will torture and kill the Grifters if the plan falls short. The con is back on, although now without Lily's help.

Leon wires the money to Gordo in Belize. Jake tips off Lupus that they can keep the money and cut out The King. Lupus informs The King, who decides to intercept the money at the airport. Gordo brings it to Ontario Airport, where he is met by both Butan and The King's men, both sides after the $5 million in a carry on bag. Butan arrests The King and confiscates the money. Omar and Lloyd are also arrested by Internal Affairs, based on video evidence shared by Butan.

Gordo disappears. Lupus, thinking The King has the money, reveals he was the one who killed Big Al. Lupus holds Jake at gunpoint, but he is shot by Travis (Morris Chestnut), a henchman for Morgan Price. It turns out that when Lily walked out, she went straight to Price and revealed the entire con, which was taking place that minute. Price told Travis to locate Jake to find out exactly how the con was engineered, and to stop such a thing from ever happening again.

Travis takes Jake to an abandoned lot, and forces him to explain the entire story. A furious Lily takes out a gun and shoots Jake. Travis demands that he and Lily both disappear immediately. Minutes later, Butan arrives in a car, and Jake sits up from a pool of blood, unharmed.

The final parts of the con are revealed. Lily's "quitting" was faked; a set-up to confuse Lupus. Butan is actually an old confidant of Jake's. He managed to "confiscate" the money and arrest The King at the same time. Butan has the money, and it's split five ways. Jake was wearing squibs to fake his own death in the lot.

In the end, everyone was in on everything except for The King and Lupus (the first marks), Price and Travis (the second, bigger marks), and the two corrupt LAPD detectives, who have been arrested. The four Grifters reunite and celebrate, driving off into the night.