`CRIMINAL' INTENT WITH GOOD PLOTTING.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

BECAUSE THEY make them so absorbingly personal, you buy the sting movie contrivances of ``Criminal.''

A mostly faithful, L.A.-set remake of the Argentine thriller ``Nine Queens'' (which means that, for those who've seen the original, many terrific surprises aren't going to work as well the second time), ``Criminal'' is one continuous, plausibility-bending scam-a-rama. But its spiral of deceptions within deceptions remains resolutely character-based until the outlandish end, which proves emotionally satisfying because it's based on what really drives people as much as too-clever plotting.

To make this work on both the mechanical and behavioral levels, a superb cast is obviously vital. And first-time director Gregory Jacobs, a longtime assistant director for the likes of co-producer Steven Soderbergh, has assembled an unlikely but perfect ensemble for the task.

John C. Reilly, whose pockmarked lumpenness usually relegates him to lovable loser roles (``Chicago,'' ``The Good Girl,'' most of the Paul Thomas Anderson catalog), shines in a rare lead as the wised-up, calculating grifter Richard Gaddis. Utterly amoral - he loves bilking a few hundred bucks out of old ladies as much as making a six-figure score off an international financier - Reilly's Gaddis can also be refreshingly upfront about his untrustworthiness. As we watch the biggest job of his life unravel over the film's 24-hour time frame, our sympathy for the underhanded slickster grows - a vital reaction that may not have come so readily if Gaddis were played by a more traditional leading man.

On this day of all days, Gaddis takes on a talented but inexperienced apprentice, Rodrigo (``Y Tu Mama Tambien's'' Diego Luna). But where exactly is Rodrigo from - and can he be trusted any more than his mentor? Luna is so ingratiating, he makes you want to embrace Rodrigo completely. And that, of course, renders him more suspect than anybody.

The third wheel is Richard's sister Valerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a concierge at the Biltmore, where the big deal is set to go down. She hates her brother for characteristically messing with their inheritance. And when he needs her to enable the scheme in the most appalling manner, well, relationships don't get much more complicated. Or poisoned.

Jacobs lays it all out in a clean, straightforward manner that makes savvy but not too showy use of everyday L.A. locations. Anything more elaborate would have emphasized ``Criminal's'' artifice. Shrewdly, the focus is kept on the human factor.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

CRIMINAL - Three stars

(R: violence, language)

Starring: John C. Reilly, Diego Luna, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Mullan.

Director: Gregory Jacobs.

Running time: 1 hr. 27 min.

Playing: Mann Plant 16, Van Nuys; Laemmle Playhouse 7, Pasadena; ArcLight, Hollywood; AMC Century City 14; AMC Santa Monica 7; Edwards University Town Center 6, Irvine.

In a nutshell: Con artist trains younger grifter on the day of the biggest scam of their lives in this unbelievably plotted but emotionally credible remake of the Argentine suspenser ``Nine Queens.''

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Photo:

John C. Reilly's grifter, left, and apprentice Diego Luna, hope for help from concierge Maggie Gyllenhaal in ``Criminal.''