The Sting II

Set during the Great Depression, this comedy follows two veteran con artists, Fargo Gondorff and Jake Hooker, as they plan a new swindle together with a younger grifter, Veronica. Their target is Gus Macalinski, a mob boss who makes their earlier marks look tame by comparison. To draw him in, they present Hooker as a washed-up boxer who no longer wants to take dives for Gondorff, and a fixed fight becomes the centre of the scheme. What the pair do not know is that Lonnegan, the gangster they cheated in the earlier film, is working against them and preparing his own trap.

Jeremy Kagan directed the film, which sits between The Chosen and The Journey of Natty Gann in his filmography. David S. Ward and Dean Riesner wrote the screenplay. Jackie Gleason and Mac Davis return as Gondorff and Hooker, with Teri Garr as Veronica, Karl Malden as Macalinski and Oliver Reed as Lonnegan; the credited cast numbers 76. Released by Universal Pictures in February 1983, it took about 6 million dollars worldwide, a modest return for a wide release.

Audience response has been weak. On IMDb it holds 4.9 out of 10 from roughly 2,700 votes, and on TMDB 4.7 out of 10 from a small number of votes, indicating limited interest and a poor reception among those who have seen it.