Trama

Two con artists try to swindle a stamp collector by selling him a sheet of counterfeit rare stamps (the "nine queens").

Early one morning, Marcos observes Juan successfully pulling off a bill-changing scam on a cashier, and then getting caught as he attempts to pull the same trick on the next shift. Marcos steps in, claiming to be a policeman, and drags Juan out of the store. Once they are back on the street, Marcos reveals himself to be a fellow swindler with a game of much higher stakes in mind, and he invites Juan to be his partner in crime. A once-in-a-lifetime scheme seemingly falls into their laps - an old-time con man enlists them to sell a forged set of extremely valuable rare stamps, The Nine Queens. The tricky negotiations that ensue bring into the picture a cast of suspicious characters, including Marcos' sister Valeria, their younger brother Federico and a slew of thieves, conmen and pickpockets. As the deceptions mount, it becomes more and more difficult to figure out who is conning whom.—Farsante

In Buenos Aires, the swindler Juan cheats the cashier of a convenience store with a bill-changing scam observed by Marcos. Then Juan tries to lure the cashier on the next shift but he is caught by the manager. Marcos claims to be a police officer and arrests Juan; he also brings the money claiming to be evidence. Sooner Juan learns that Marcos is actually an experienced con artist and he invites Juan to be his partner in a scheme. They head to a five-star hotel where Marcos meets his estranged sister Valeria in the reception. She tells that Marco's friend Sandler is very ill and wants to talk to him in the locker room. Sandler explains that he had forged a sheet of the valuable stamps Nueve Reinas using a picture he took from the collection that belongs to his sister. He also tells that the Spaniard Vidal Gandolfo that is lodged in the hotel is a collector of stamps and will travel on the next morning. Therefore, the stamps should be negotiated on that day. Marcos distributes percentages to a network of swindlers to work with him but there are too many con artists in action luring each other.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Two grifters - boyish, likable Juan and hard-edged, scheming Marcos - meet by chance. Marcos, who seems to have cheated everyone he knows including his siblings, is missing his partner, so he offers to teach Juan tricks for a day. Juan accepts because he has some savings, but needs more to bribe a judge to release his father from prison. Marcos gets a call from an aging, ill ex-associate needing help to sell a forged set of rare stamps, the Nine Queens, to a businessman about to be deported (he can't take cash out of Argentina, but could take the stamps). When the con men have to improvise, Marcos asks Juan to use his savings to set up the deal. Is Juan about to be conned?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

The film opens at a convenience store early in the morning. Juan, a con artist, successfully scams the cashier, but later messes up by attempting the same scam again on the next shift. Marcos, who has been observing the whole time, steps in pretending to be a police officer and takes Juan away. As soon as they are far enough from the shop, Marcos tells Juan he is not actually a cop but a fellow con man. Juan asks Marcos to show him the ropes, because his father, also a con man, is in jail and he needs to raise money quickly to bribe a judge to reduce his father's sentence from 10 years to 6 months. He needs $70,000.

Marcos is sympathetic with Juan but cannot help him raise this much money so soon. Marcos & Juan roam the city the whole day performing cheap tricks to swindle small sums of money. All the while Juan earns Marcos's trust and respect.

Then a rare scheme seemingly falls into their laps: Sandler, a former business associate of Marcos, needs his help to sell counterfeit copies he made of some rare stamps called "The Nine Queens". Sandler contacted Marcos by sending a message through Marcos's sister Valeria. Valeria & Marcos are on barely talking terms & Valeria makes it very clear that the only reason she called Marcos was that Sandler was creating a scene at the hotel where she worked. Seems Marcos has cheated Valeria & his younger brother out of their fair share of their grandfather's inheritance.

But the younger brother does not believe Valeria & maintains that Marcos is blameless & could not have done anything to cheat Valeria and himself. Valeria has sued Marcos & the case is currently in court. Sandler informs Marcos that he copied the nine sisters from the original, which are held by his widow sister, who was left the collection by the dead brother-in-law. She wouldn't sell the stamps, but Sandler was able to make a copy.

The potential mark is Gandolfo, a rich Spaniard who is facing deportation and desperate to smuggle his wealth out of the country. Sandler is again the person who informs Marcos about the buyer. Sandler says that he selected Marcos because he fell ill after coming to the hotel (looking for Gandolfo) & saw Valeria & thought of Marcos. Marcos asks for a 90% cut in exchange for making this sale for Sandler. Juan desperately pleads Marcos for a cut, making Marcos believe that this is a sure bet, he is fully in. Marcos has Sandler by the balls. Gandolfo has no time to fully check if the stamps are authentic, but he hires an expert to do a quick check and is satisfied.

He offers $450,000 for the stamps, the exchange to take place that evening. Marcos had expected $30,000 for the stamps as he had no idea of their real value, so this is a massive jackpot for him & he has grandeur of retiring comfortably on the back of this deal.

In the intervening time, a number of things go wrong. The stamp expert demands a cut, as he knew the stamps were in fact forged. The fake stamps are then stolen out of Juan and Marcos' hands by crooks on motorcycles who, unaware of their value, destroy them by tossing them into a river.

To salvage the scheme, Marcos approaches Sandler's widowed sister, the owner of the real stamps, who agrees to sell them for $250,000. Marcos can put up $200,000 and asks Juan to contribute the remaining $50,000. Juan suspects that he is being scammed, as it's a remarkable coincidence that Marcos needs just the amount that Juan has saved up; but as the $50,000 is not enough to help his father, he reluctantly agrees. They buy the real stamps and go to Gandolfo's hotel, but he says he has changed his mind and will now only buy the stamps if he also gets to sleep with Marcos' sister Valeria, a hotel employee. Valeria's price is that Marcos must confess to their younger brother how he cheated him out of an inheritance. Gandolfo pays for the stamps with a certified cashier's check (like a demand draft), but the bank crashes the next day, making the check worthless.

It appears that Juan and Marcos are both ruined, but the final scene is a surprise ending. Juan goes to a warehouse, where he greets the motorcycle thieves, Sandler and his sister, Gandolfo, and Juan's fiance Valeria - revealing that the real scam was to swindle Marcos out of $200,000 as revenge for all the times he cheated his family and his partners.