Art imitates life during this week’s Monday Movie Meme, as the controversy surrounding Russia’s “president-elect” really got Dale’s attention at Smurfin the Web. So, the topic for this week’s meme is “It’s A Fix.” Dale asks, what are some movies you’ve seen where fraud or some form of deceptive shenanigans are central to the plot? Here are my selections for movies that feature an element of fraud in the storyline.

First and foremost, “Contraband” fits the bill for this week’s meme, no pun intended. I saw it in a movie theater when it came out earlier this year and must give Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale and the rest of the cart their due for some good performances. Wahlberg plays a reformed smuggler who is now working in the security alarm business -- until his younger, senseless brother-in-law gets into trouble with a notorious mob boss, for throwing away drugs.

The mob guy wants the brother-in-law to pay him back based on the street value of the drugs but the kid doesn’t have the money. So, Wahlberg’s character boards a cargo ship to smuggle counterfeit money for the purpose of paying off this debt and saving his entire family from harm.

Leonardo DiCaprio did a nice job with his portrayal of Frank Abagnale Jr. in “Catch Me If You Can.” A guy has to be pretty swift and clever to not only steal tons of money via check forgery but also land a job to help him pull off such a con.

It’s hard enough for people to legitimately obtain employment these days, and this dude is flying around the like the world is his oyster. If it’s that easy, then maybe this is the key to gaining employment -- just pose as the person you want to be and eventually, you’ll become him. Hmm, maybe I should have tried this several years ago, when I was trying to get a job at Blockbuster stores.

If “Face Off” starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage doesn’t represent deception, I don’t know what does. When a secret FBI mission goes wrong, one cop fights to restore his life and revamp his investigation to bring down a career criminal. There’s only one problem -- the cop underwent surgery to look exactly like the guy that he is trying to prosecute -- and the guy who he wants to prosecute got the same surgery done (albeit, by force, but that doesn’t really matter when shit hits the fan, now does it?), to look like him.

Talk about identity theft! -- and YOU think it sucks that somebody stole your wallet or credit card or whatever -- not a big deal now, compared to the characters in this movie, huh? I mean, yeah, you can always get a new wallet or credit card in like a few days or something.

What movies come to YOUR mind concerning fraud?

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