| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B- |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
B |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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'Matchstick Men' is almost a great film... ALMOST!
by "Llama" (movies profile)
Nov 22, 2006
11
of
14 people found this review helpful
'Matchstick Men' is slickly directed by Ridley Scott and features two wonderful performances from Nic Cage, as the obsessive-compulsive con-artist, and Alison Lohman, as the 14 year-old daughter he didn't know he had. The screenplay is well written and tells two intriguing stories. The first story serves as surface entertainment and focuses on the con games played by Cage and his protégé (Rockwell). The second story lays at the heart of the film and recounts the character flaws of our protagonist. He has issues... tons of them. He has agoraphobia, he is consumed by germs and messiness and dirt and shoes and carpet lint and yada yada yada. He hasn't had a relationship in fifteen years. And the last, but not the least, of his problems is his occupation... He is a career criminal who has perfected the art of the 'scam'. However, everything is about to be thrown for a loop with the arrival of his newfound daughter.
I liked the film, but never felt a true enthusiasm for it. It's well made... very professionally done, but I am not sure that it achieved its primary goal, which was to make us sympathize with and appreciate the growth of Cage's character. It is not a necessity for a great film to have likeable characters (note 'Pulp Fiction' or 'Raging Bull' or 'Requiem for a Dream), but it is important for us to sympathize with them in some way. I found myself torn with these people. They were entertaining to watch and tried to be sympathetic, but were ultimately just a bunch of heartless criminals.
The only other problems I have with the film have to do with the cons. I had a hard time believing the plausibility of the scams. I know it may be a somewhat cool notion that these types of people are out there pulling these elaborate scams... but it doesn't exist!!! This is a classic movie myth that has been over-popularized since the 1990 cult-classic 'The Grifters'. Real-life con artists are not cool, wealthy and attractive men who wear Armani suits and have quirky sidekicks. They are greasy lowlifes who will think nothing of cracking your skull open with a 5-iron if you fail to get them their cash. This movie tries to hard to cutesy and romantic with its lead character and it comes across as a little phony.
All that being said... I still maintain that this is a decent film worthy of a recommendation. I just couldn't feel the affinity for the characters that the screenplay requested of me. - TC Candler |
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