Directed by:
Ridley ScottCinematography:
John MathiesonComposer:
Hans ZimmerCast:
Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman, Bruce Altman, Bruce McGill, Jenny O'Hara, Steve Eastin, Beth Grant, Sheila Kelley, Fran Kranz, Tim Maculan (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Roy Waller (Nicolas Cage) is a con man who has had to overcome enormous problems with obsessive-compulsive disorder in order to stay on top of his game. His partner in crime, Frank Mercer (Sam Rockwell), helps him run a daily business conning housewives out of their money with telephone scams. Frank is frustrated with their small-fry clientele however, and urges Roy to look for bigger business ventures. Roy resists Frank's urges, and instead leads a bizarre existence in which he is completely dominated by his compulsions to clean, eat canned tuna every night, and open his front door three times before he can walk through it. His world is turned upside down, however, when he starts seeing a shrink who helps Roy to get in touch with his missing 14-year-old daughter, Angela (Alison Lohman). Angela soon becomes embroiled in Roy and Frank's scams, pushing Roy to take on a grandiose scheme that could give them financial security for the rest of their lives. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (7)
An unfunny comedy, a psychological family drama that doesn’t engage the viewer, and a slight hint of a thriller. Nicolas Cage is excellent, but the film itself is just a boring genre hybrid. I found the ending to be not so much overwrought and complicated as unbelievable. It does help to make sense of what happened before, but it doesn’t inspire enthusiasm. One of Ridley Scott’s weaker efforts.
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A Coens’ film according to Scott. A very mediocre, unsurprising and already repeatedly worn-out script that simply does not suffice for two hours of plot.
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Scott continues to surprise me more and more. While his highly regarded classics don't really resonate with me, his excursions into seemingly foreign genres fit me perfectly. This applies even more to "Švindlíři" (The Swindlers), considering that I usually don't like the genre of deceitful comedies. Scott, however, turned many clichés about final actions and unexpected family connections upside down and surprisingly placed them in the role of a total neurotic played by Nicolas Cage, who surprises perhaps all of his opponents. I was on edge during the airport action scene and I wholeheartedly rooted for the main characters. I liked almost everything - except for the final twist, which could greatly damage the experience upon rewatching.
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Cage - excellent, Sam Rockwell - excellent, Alison Lohman - excellent. I was rather surprised to fins a movie from Ridley Scott (!) with Cage (!) that I didn’t know even existed. And it was a pleasant surprise. The type of cool movie that occasionally makes you laugh, but otherwise it’s pretty full-on. + unexpected ending.
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I wish Ridley Scott would make a proper history drama again, that's his strength. He should live conversational movies to someone else.
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Nicola Cage came to me completely captivated, which is true for me very often. He managed to carry the whole film until the end, basically in every moment. I can't help it, but I enjoy his acting. What didn't entertain me as much was the film's screenplay, which would be interesting mainly because of the ending, where the cards were revealed quite predictably.
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It’s true that the screenplay for Matchstick Men is not particularly glorious. If it had fallen into the hands of even a mediocre director, it probably would have turned out a lot worse. But Ridley Scott is a more than above-average director :)) and so he squeezed what he could. The result is a film that pretends to be a light-hearted crime comedy until the last moment (and this position suits it very well), only to dick you around at the end, to put it vulgarly. :) It's just a pity Sam Rockwell didn't get more space. 75%
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