Park City, Utah Slipperier than an icy off-ramp, "The Convincer" is an intricate caper in which nothing is as it seems. The film, shot in and around the Twin Cities last year, stars Greg Kinnear as a fast-talking Wisconsin insurance agent on the skids, Billy Crudup as a whack-job locksmith and Alan Arkin as a slow-witted old farmer in possession of a valuable violin. Kinnear's larcenous character soon has reason to suspect anything that comes with strings attatched. With a "Fargo"-esque crew of cops, crooks and dupes, and a plot as taut as a catgut E string, "The Convincer" is a treat for fans of wry, snowbound mystery/thrillers. Following tonight's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Kinnear praised the "many great actors from the Guthrie Theatre" who appear in supporting roles, while insisting that his reunion with his Little Miss Sunshine" costar Arkin was "terrible." The part of the daffy old codger was created expressly for Arkin, said director and co-writer Jill Sprecher. Lea Thompson, who plays Kinnear's put-upon wife, got the role by accident when her pet invaded Sprecher's neighboring Hollywood back yard. "She called me and when I went over to pick up my evil cat, she said, 'Wanna do my movie?' And I said yes." Sprercher said that she and her sister/creative partner Karen set out to make a movie that their father could sit through. "He sells insurance in Wisconsin, and I think he's going to like this," she said."He told my sister and me that it was impossible to pull off an insurance scam" as they were writing the script. "But every time we came up with a scenario he'd say, "Oh, yeah, that could work.'"
