"When a liar gets caught in a lie they don't come clean," advises Giovanni Ribisi's character in Sneaky Pete (Amazon). "They build a bigger lie."
He ought to know. As an accomplished con artist, Pete is well practised in the dark arts of deception. That's one reason Sneaky Pete has not yet been caught in a lie. Another is because Pete is actually still in prison – his recently released cellmate, Marius Josipovic (Ribisi), has stolen his identity, as deftly as a magician might pinch a wallet, and slipped into a life more comfortable.
Dodging his mob creditors in New York, headed by Bryan Cranston’s kingpin Vince, who are holding his brother as collateral, “Pete” absconds to “grandma and grandpa’s” farm in Connecticut, hoping to make a quick score.
Their business, however, is posting bail for felons, where their investments often decide to skip town using false ID and real guns. In hot pursuit of a flown felon with his single-mother “cousin” (Marin Ireland), Ribisi’s practised grifter now becomes an apprentice bounty hunter. These days that’s almost the working definition of the American dream.
The serial fun of con artistry, much like the fun of acting, comes together in Ribisi’s unimposing and quick talking performance. He observes swiftly and deceives fluently, while conveying a fascinating discomfort with himself, blinking and clenching, as though trying to stretch out a new face that is two sizes too small.
He's not an obvious chameleon, and neither is the show: originally created by David Shore and Cranston for CBS, a cosy home for formula entertainment, Sneaky Pete doesn't quite fit in among the modest number of original shows from Amazon, its adoptive parent. But like the thick streak of sentimentality within the show, urging Pete to join the family, Amazon has found a way to make Sneaky Pete seem right at home. In true grifter form, the first episode is free, and should you let your pointer hover on the screen at any moment, actor bios pop up, together with trivia and innocent links to purchase the song playing in the background. Even as you watch this charming swindler at work, the show is waiting to part you from your money. You have to admit, that's a pretty good hustle.
