''Swindled'' or ''Taken In'' ( es, Incautos, links=no) 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. Early life Alterio is the son of psychologist Modesta Ángela Bacaicoa Destéfano and actor Héctor Alterio Onorato. His ...

, Victoria Abril, and Federico Luppi.

Plot

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

, Canal 9, Canal+, and TVE. Shooting locations included

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, and the province of Segovia.

Release

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

Málaga Film Festival The Málaga Film Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since 2017, ...

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

Reception

Todd Brown of ''

ScreenAnarchy Screen Anarchy, 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

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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'' 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'' 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

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19th Goya Awards The 19th Goya Awards took place in Madrid, Spain on 30 January 2005. ''The Sea Inside'' was nominated for 15 awards and won 14, including the four regular acting awards (Bardem, Bugallo, Dueñas and Rivera) and the two acting awards for Best New ...

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, , "Corre" by

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Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

, , 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