Comedy, Crime, Drama

Sure, it's not a fall-on-the-floor slapstick comedy—no rubber chickens, no Bridesmaids-style puke humor—but The Sting can sure give us plenty to feel good about.

Yeah, it's a movie about criminals putting themselves in serious danger. And yes, a good man named Luther Coleman gets brutally murdered. And—oh yeah—there are subplots of betrayal and the gloom of the Great Depression hangs over everything like a shroud.

But at the end of the day, we probably spend more time smiling in this movie than we do feeling horrible about the world. The characters are basically charming, good people. The dialogue is witty and snappy. The music is bouncy. Half of the dang film takes place near a carousel…and how can you be anything but cheerful when there's a carousel involved?

And of course, there's a 100% happy ending.