Editing The Sting (section)

===Critical response===
[[Roger Ebert]] gave the film four out of four stars and called it "one of the most stylish movies of the year".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-sting-1973 |title=The Sting |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=December 27, 1973 |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |access-date=November 26, 2018 |archive-date=December 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230124519/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-sting-1973 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Gene Siskel]] awarded three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "a ''movie'' movie that has obviously been made with loving care each and every step of the way."<ref>[[Gene Siskel|Siskel, Gene]] (December 28, 1973). "A return to the basics called care and skill". ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. Section 2, p. 3.</ref> [[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that the film was "so good-natured, so obviously aware of everything it's up to, even its own picturesque frauds, that I opt to go along with it. One forgives its unrelenting efforts to charm, if only because ''The Sting'' itself is a kind of con game, devoid of the poetic aspirations that weighed down ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''."<ref>{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=December 26, 1973 |title=Film:1930's Confidence Men Are Heroes of 'Sting' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/26/archives/film1930s-confidence-men-are-heroes-of-sting.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=60 |access-date=June 25, 2020 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626080052/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/26/archives/film1930s-confidence-men-are-heroes-of-sting.html |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote, "George Roy Hill's outstanding direction of David S. Ward's finely-crafted story of multiple deception and surprise ending will delight both mass and class audiences. Extremely handsome production values and a great supporting cast round out the virtues."<ref>{{cite news |date=December 12, 1973 |last=Murphy |first=A. D. |title=The Sting |url=https://variety.com/1973/film/reviews/the-sting-1200423095/ |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=June 25, 2020 |archive-date=June 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605144824/https://variety.com/1973/film/reviews/the-sting-1200423095/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Kevin Thomas (film critic)|Kevin Thomas]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called it "an unalloyed delight, the kind of pure entertainment film that's all the more welcome for having become such a rarity."<ref>[[Kevin Thomas (film critic)|Thomas, Kevin]] (December 23, 1973). "'The Sting 'Reunites a Winning Combination". ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Calendar, p. 26.</ref> [[John Simon (critic)|John Simon]] wrote that ''The Sting'' as a comedy-thriller "works endearingly without a hitch".<ref>{{cite book |title=Reverse Angle: A Decade of American films |url=https://archive.org/details/reverseangledeca0000simo |url-access=registration |last=Simon |first=John |publisher=Crown Publishers Inc. |year=1982 |chapter=Cops, Crooks, and Cryogenics |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/reverseangledeca0000simo/page/134 |page=134 |isbn=978-0-5175-4471-6}}</ref>

[[Pauline Kael]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' was less enthusiastic, writing that the film "is meant to be roguishly charming entertainment, and that's how most of the audience takes it, but I found it visually claustrophobic, and totally mechanical. It keeps cranking on, section after section, and it doesn't have a good spirit."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kael |first=Pauline |author-link=Pauline Kael |date=December 31, 1973 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=The New Yorker |pages=49–50 }}</ref>

In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The [[Writers Guild of America]] ranked the screenplay #39 on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807 |title=101 Greatest Screenplays |access-date=April 13, 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813151310/http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807 |archive-date=August 13, 2006 |website=Writers Guild of America West}}</ref> On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''The Sting'' holds a rating of 92% from 101 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and director George Roy Hill prove that charm, humor, and a few slick twists can add up to a great film."<ref>{{cite web| title=The Sting| url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1020130-sting| website=Rotten Tomatoes| access-date=August 8, 2022| archive-date=August 6, 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806025617/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1020130-sting| url-status=live}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{Citation |title=The Sting Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-sting |publisher=Metacritic |access-date=June 18, 2022 |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706092548/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-sting |url-status=live }}</ref>