Buy Hustle

In London, two teams are formed and prepare their operations, destined as adversaries. Michael 'Mickey Bricks' Stone is out of jail after two years for an unrelated offense; everybody knows he will do at least once more what he's good in, in fact the best in Britain: the intricate 'long con', always prepared by his American associate Albert Stroller, who finds and gains the confidence of a wealthy mark; their other known cahoots are Ash Morgan and Stacie Monroe. Meanwhile in the police force, a new man is stepping in as new head of the task force to catch them; his failed predecessor, DS Terri Hodges, fills him in on the findings, and Mickey's correctly presumed next target: businessman Peter Williams. The scam this time is to pretend a computer delay of under a second allows the 'investors' to earn a fortune on oil company Vestron's stock just before it rises as a consequence of its annual report, then pull the plug and run with the 'seed money'. A surprise element, however spotted by the police, is young short con- artist Danny Blue, who skilfully forces his way into Mickey's team after being refused a cut when he just asked for a chance to learn from the masters. The police already has a case against him, and offers him his freedom if he stays in the scam to spy and testify afterward. Things work out differently, because of another scam...
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Albert Stroller is severely beaten by a vicious casino owner, Frank Gorley, after being caught cheating at cards. The team decide to get their revenge by scamming Gorely for a load of money. Finding Gorley's weakness - he's a film buff who particularly likes old black and white movies from the '40s and '50s -the team sets up an elaborate quick-money scheme for him to invest in a film. They also let Danny play the lead in their elaborate charade, a first for him in a long con.
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The team focus on the art world and specifically Meredith Gates, an art collector and dealer who is an expert on the works of Mondrian. The plan is to produce a forged Mondrian that would show he experimented with cubism long before Picasso. Having found their forger, they must now provide him with period-specific materials while at the same time setting the trap for Gates. What they do not realize is that they too are being set up and may end up with nothing.
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Mickey Stone find himself being blackmailed by Victor Maher into helping him catch a bank robber. Maher has an old videotape of Danny Blue involved in a robbery and unless Mickey agrees to help, he will turn it over to the police. Maher spent his career in the fraud squad and is now head of security for Moores Bank. He knows that Sam Richards will soon try to rob the their main London Branch and want Mickey to get a member of his team in on the robbery. Albert Stroller, who has had dealings with Maher in the past, warns Mickey that the ex-cop is very good at what he does and that Mickey himself is as much the prize as Richards. Left on the sidelines, Danny and Stacie spend a good deal of time together with Danny starting to fall for her.
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The con artists set their sights on Katherine Winterbourne a very rich woman, now divorced, whose nasty reputation is well deserved. In her ongoing battle with her now ex-husband, she even killed his dogs. The team's plan is to use her hatred of her ex against her. They set themselves up as investors planning to build a luxury hotel that would compete directly with that of her ex-husband's. Her desire for further revenge is such that she insists on investing in the scheme. As Mickey gets to know her however, he comes to believe that they are scamming an honest person and wants to stop the con.
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The mark is Anthony Reeves who has just received a controversial half-million pound payout on being fired from his most recent job. Reeves loves the horses so the team set him up for The Wire - convince him that they are getting race information before it's being made available publicly thereby ensuring a win. The scam works well until one of their previous victims decides he wants his money back. Meanwhile, Danny has an amusing crisis of confidence when a new receptionist refuses to go out with him.
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Back from their holiday, the team learns that an old friend and con artist, has been sent to prison. He tried to con businessman Howard Jennings in a stock deal but unfortunately for him, Jennings knew the game too well. Danny is very keen to take this fellow on and now has to devise a plan for the most difficult of marks: conning someone without them ever knowing they have ever been conned. So, they try to convince Jennings that there is possibly a gold mine in the heart of London.
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When Albert doesn't show up for a planned scam the scheme falls through but he has already staked out another target. Johnny Keyes is now a successful London restaurant owner with a violent and nasty past. Keyes' son disappeared long ago and would give anything to find him and help him out in life. The plan is simple: have Danny impersonate the boy and tug on Keyes heart strings to the point where he will be just begging to give him money. When the plan falters, they go to their backup plan which proves to be a bit more successful.
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The team set their sights on a former African despot, Anthony Mgube, who now lives in Switzerland. Mgube collects old banknotes and very much wants to get his hands on a 19th century US $1000 note. All is going well until Danny shows up with a new friend, Trevor Speed, who wants in on the long con. The team is reluctant to take him on, but eventually give in to Danny's ultimatum to trust him or he'll quit. Meanwhile, Stacie is upset that her bank has charged her ?85 for a very minor overage on her account and she enlists Albie to help her get even. In the end, nothing is as it seems. Mickey has a bit of fun with bar owner Eddie who thinks the team are always taking advantage of him.
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The con artists have to deal with a bent copper when she arrests Mickey and Danny in Eddie's bar in the middle of scamming someone. The police Officer, DI Sam Phillips, makes it quite clear that she expects 50% of the proceeds but also half of their next scam, involving original artwork for a 1930's comic book. The idea is to put the original up for auction and then swap it for a forgery once the sale is complete. The real question however is how will the con artists get away with their scheme and get rid of the pesky police officer at the same time?
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The team's next victim is Jake Henry, Stacie Monroe's husband. He walked out on her five years previously and cleaned out her bank account leaving her, as she says, a cactus, a Phil Collins CD and a stale piece of cheese. Henry fancies himself a top poker player so the plan is to scam him in a game of Texas Holdem. There may be cause for concern however when Stacie apparently starts to re-connect with Henry and he in turn wants them to renew their relationship.
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The team seemingly gives up the long con to fulfill one of Danny's lifelong dreams: to steal the crown jewels. Or at least one them, anyways. The Star of Africa is soon to go on display in a local museum and Danny sees this as their chance. He arranges through their fence Benny to obtain five sealed bids for the diamond and the crew set about determining just how they are going to break into a room with time-locked doors and laser sensors. Things become complicated when Benny is arrested by the police and spills the beans on the plan.
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Strapped for cash after a spell in Las Vegas, the gang of long con artists are back. When Albert's intended mark has a heart attack he spots a last minute replacement in nasty pub owner Benny Frasier ['Mel Smith'] who smuggles unlawful refugees to work for him. The gang target him through his bratty son, who sees himself as a British hip-hop talent. Using the pop scene as a backdrop, have they managed to persuade him to part with his cash for his son's 'stardom' undetected? Will they get caught in the police investigation that follows him?
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Albert tries to resolve the rivalry between Mickey and Danny using a traditional American con man's challenge. Both are left naked in the middle of London and have six hours to make as much money as possible with nothing but their wits and charm to go on. The winner gets to lead the gang, while the loser walks away.
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Con artist JW3 (James Whittaker Wright III) arrives on the scene hoping for revenge on the bank responsible for ruining his grandfather - who sold fake gold mines on the stock market. The team step into action, with Danny posing as a City businessman, but it's not long before they come unstuck and realize their ally could be just as deceitful as they are.
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An old friend of Albert's asks for his help in bringing down ruthless sweatshop owner Kulvinda Samar, who has caused his family and the Asian community a great deal of pain. The team discover he is a Bollywood fanatic and step into action with a classic movie investor con, but the plot is jeopardised when they become almost too good at their job.
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When Stacie's friend attempts suicide because of a slanderous story about her by a newspaper. The team, expectedly, decide to make a mark out of the newspaper. A false headline about the identity of the queen mother quickly intrigues the chief editor and his top reporter. However, the editor isn't the only one worrying about the truth of the story.
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When the gang are arrested on false drug charges by a crooked policeman, he demands their help in catching a notorious criminal in return for their freedom. The team set out to con the thief by offering to help with his next job, but it isn't long before they realise they are being set up and must take drastic action to save their skins.
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Albert has found the team a new mark: Richard Brennan, who runs an adult video production company and has a passion for race horses. He has three horses in training, but not a single won race so far. Danny's idea: to "sell" Brennan a horse that would win. Danny also thinks they need a new permanent fifth member an is interviewing applicants - who "by chance" happen to all be women, all 21 of them!
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The grifter's barman Eddie approaches them as his father is in a nursing home that is trying to take his home from him in a very underhand way. The nursing home has just taken over by Veronica Powell and the grifters, having seen her in action, vow to taken her down.
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The team finally allow Billy into their inner realms just as a figure from his past resurfaces and threatens to blow Billy's cover if he doesn't give him ?20,000. The crew look to con Clarissa Bartwell an immoral "fashionista" using the "Emperor's New Clothes" as their inspiration.
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Danny and the crew successfully scam a greedy Japanese businessman, Mr. Yakubi, using a foreign currency scam. They then go against their own better judgment and decide to try the same ruse on a caviar importer. Their scam is interrupted however when Yakubi's son shows up at Eddie's bar and demands revenge, saying he has to retrieve his father's honor. The crew aren't impressed until he reveals that he is holding Eddie hostage.
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While on a holiday in Las Vegas, Albert is recognized by an old friend, the head of security at a major casino. Although satisfied that Albert isn't scamming the hotel the owner - Joey Maranzano, son of a famous mafia boss - decides to teach Albert a lesson anyway, taking a baseball bat to his hand. The team decide to get their revenge by stealing $5 million on display behind an aquarium in the hotel lobby. Even if they get away with the theft, Maranzano is ruthless and the real question is whether they can get away with their lives.
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Having conned a sheik into believing Emma is Kylie Minogue who will perform at his private party the gang go after 'Piggy' Richardson, a banker who received an enormous pay-out despite the near collapse of his bank's pensions fund. They persuade him that they work for the Bank of California and want to give him employment, though this will involve him putting some of his cash into an account. Matters are complicated, however, when Lucy Britford, a fraud squad officer, enters the scene, having her own suspicions about Richardson.
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Clumsy burglar 'Liability' Finch steals a Van Gogh painting in Rio but,due to publicity surrounding the theft, leaves it in a luggage locker back in Brazil.By coincidence his old grifting partner Ash is at the airport when he arrives home and he asks Ash and the gang to help him smuggle the painting into England. At first Ash and Mickey are reluctant but when over-zealous customs officer Clifford Davies tries to blackmail them into proving Finch's guilt they devise a far-fetched plan to send a pair of elderly con artists to Brazil to retrieve the picture and discredit Davies.
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Sean is unsettled to see Rex, the father who abandoned him and Emma when they were toddlers and is determined to get his revenge by ripping him off. He devises a plan involving supposed buried treasure from a plane that crashed in 1940 on land Rex is aiming to sell. An expensive bracelet is planted for Rex to find, along with items of wartime memorabilia - but Rex proves to be far less greedy than imagined and prepared to share the treasure with Sean. This gives the lad cold feet about fleecing his father and it is up to Emma to pick up the baton of revenge, leading to a family confrontation - and possible reconciliation.
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Mickey gets conned after buying a defective mobile phone online and to sensible Emma's amazement the three older men believe that bad luck will result when a hustler is duped unless he can turn the tables on his swindler. This is brash yuppie entrepreneur Mervyn Lloyd. Sean becomes the team's inside man, working for Lloyd after supposedly being fired by Albert and persuading him to invest in a wonderful new product, a universal insect repellent, before Albert does. Barman Eddie,normally one of life's unfortunates, finds himself on a roll as he takes on board Mickey's good luck while Mickey hits rock bottom.
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When the hustlers get caught they are offered an amnesty by MI6 officers Jenny and Nigel if they will steal a safe box from the vault in the National Bank of Syria. However the couple are hoping the team will steal money from a second vault so they can be re-arrested. Sean poses as a bank client to discover a way in and the hustlers make use of Ash's gadgetry to penetrate the vault while Albert creates a diversion.The mission is accomplished in terms of acquiring the box but Jenny and Nigel still have to be taught to back off.
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Emma meets an old boy-friend,Joe,now a widower with a little son,facing eviction after borrowing money from Dosh4You,a loan company run by hard-hearted Georgina Althorp,who has thrown many families onto the street via legal loop-holes. Somewhat improbably the hustlers take over a castle,complete with elderly extras,to reel in Georgina and 'sell' the building to her,along with its accompanying title,from its impoverished 'owner' Ash for half a million pounds. Of course she bites, with the result that Dosh4You collapses,benefitting not only Joe but others of Georgina's victims.
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The hustlers are at the funeral of old grifter pal Benny but later find that he faked his death to escape fearsome Iranian hard man Danush,to whom he is in debt. The gang decide to help Benny back onto his feet by hitting Danush. Learning that he is interested in importing cigarettes unlawfully they decide to offer Danush a lorry load,most of which is made up of old newspapers. The hand-over is made but the money is stolen by two masked men in a car. it looks like the hustlers have been hustled but is Benny responsible for setting them up?
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When his old football club,Railton,goes into administration because greedy sports agent Don Coleman has sold his client, star player Asda Price, at vast profits to himself,Ash declares a grudge match against Coleman. Mickey reels him in by posing as a businessman whose company are looking for investors in worthy sporting projects,then,as a show of faith,the hustlers pay Coleman to manage Sean,masquerading as a Canadian footballer looking for a work permit. Mickey resumes the remainder of the sting in which Albert,alias millionaire Karl Schultz,'sells' his non-existent football team to Coleman,the result ensuring that Railton F.C. are back in business.
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Cool Hand Cooper mails himself in a crate from jail seeking the hustlers' aid. He is due for parole but fears for his life having stolen diamonds from the Mafia and asks the team to retrieve them for him. Unfortunately a police station has been built over the burial place calling for a complex plan of action,involving a traffic jam to snarl up London and to call the cops out and the supposed repair of faulty drains to justify digging. The rocks are recovered but,with the help of Albert's friend Yusef,the hustlers claim them for themselves. Albert himself sits out the operation as he meets his long lost daughter.
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The gang go after mouthy Dexter Gold (born Dexter Pratt) whose advertisements claim that he pays top prices for gold but cheats his customers,including Albert's friend widowed Vivienne. Furthermore he would seem to be a fence for several bullion robberies,laundering the proceeds to a German contact. The hustlers engineer an accidental meeting,claiming that they are renegade soldiers who stole gold bars from Muamma Gaddafi though only one bar is genuine. With an inside accomplice and the fortuitous intervention of the army Gold is easy to fleece. A harder task is making up to Eddie after they have childishly defaced the signed photo of his soccer god Ian Rush.
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When a Picasso is stolen from East European mobster Petre Sava the hustlers foolishly try selling him a forgery painted by eccentric Dolly Hammond,leading Petre to think they stole it from him so he abducts Micky and locks him in a car boot until his property is returned. The group learns that another gangster,Harry Holmes,has had the picture stolen to impress his upper class father-in-law and mount an operation to retrieve it. When both Sava and Holmes turn up,mob-handed,for the hand over Ash knows how to set them against each other.
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A disgruntled victim of the cocky quintet bribes corrupt inspector Fisk to bring them down as they prepare to reel in Linda Runcorn,who runs a hotel guide racket. Fisk blackmails Kat,an old flame of Sean,to join the gang in rooking Linda and to plant cocaine on Emma in an effort to nail Micky. With Emma in the cells Fisk warns Linda that she is the victim of a scam and sets a trap.leading to Micky's arrest. However he has failed to recognise that his honest superior is actually in league with the hustlers to flush him out - and even Linda may not be all she seems to be.
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'Doctor' Dean Deville and his wife Dana are an American couple who have made millions selling sham health food products from their Eat Yourself Slender plan but their bogus diet pills induce a heart attack in the hustlers' friend,con woman Carol. The grifters play on the Devilles' weakness, buying art treasures to sell at a profit,by stealing for them a priceless Faberge egg but this is just for starters as the main hustle involves burgling a research lab to rob a supposedly genuine slimming cure . It is,of course,a placebo - and a trap. Barman Eddie however finds romance with Carol.
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Dale Ridley,a former TV game show host sacked for corruption,is now an equally dishonest property developer,bribing his way into getting what he wants but clever enough to let his minions appear to be the twisters. When he demolishes Albert's favourite pub the hustlers decide to make him their latest mark. Posing as American businessmen Albert and Micky persuade him to buy into their consortium which is aiming to purchase London City Studios,the very building from which Ridley was sacked and which he is itching to bull-doze. The appearance of Ash's young godson Alfie,whom the grifters are minding,almost jeopardises the heist as Ridley steals back his money but the gang manage to retrieve it - apart from the wad to which Alfie helped himself.
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At Mickey's suggestion the hustlers agree to their last joint venture, scamming violent playboy businessman, Bahraini Madani Wasem, a man who sends his 'enforcer' to murder rivals. Despised by the board of directors who respected his late father Wasem is always looking for brokers to arrange unlawful foreign transactions and Mickey poses as the best broker in town. The gang are surprised to find fellow con artist Stacie Monroe already on Wasem's payroll and she colludes with them to fleece the obnoxious young man in an elaborate charade involving bogus policemen. Wasem catches up with them with murderous revenge in mind but he has reckoned without the appearance of another of the hustlers' old friends.
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