Matchstick Men (2003)

I went into Matchstick Men not knowing what to expect. I mean, I knew what it's about and everything, but I had gotten extremely mixed reactions from people. A friend of mine, whose opinion I hold in highest regard, does not like the movie at all. Roger Ebert, my favorite film critic, loves it. My girlfriend also likes the movie a great deal. And I have heard equally good and bad things about it from several other people. But I figured that was enough information for me to at least give it a chance. I am glad I did.

While I'm not exactly ready to call it the film of the decade or anything, I think Matchstick Men is a solid piece of entertainment. It did not blow me away, but I was certainly not bored by this comedy/drama/action flick/family movie. I think it works pretty well on three levels: as a Sting-like con story, a character study of a guy with a handful psychological issues, and a film about the reconnection of a father and daughter. Now, some of these aspects are compromised by the film's ending, and that doesn't sit entirely well with me, but I think maybe it adds to the entertainment factor. If you've seen the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Matchstick Men was directed by Ridley Scott, and it's a nice change in pace for him. Not that it's quite Gladiator-caliber, but it's good to know that he can make a decent film that's a little different from what he's used to.

The performances, not the direction, however, are the best parts of the film. Nicolas Cage, as he stumbles through his character's many intense neuroses, is as good as I've ever seen him (no mean feat considering how awesome he is in Adaptation and The Weatherman), and you can always count on Sam Rockwell to deliver an energized performance. And Alison Lohman, as Cage's 14-year-old daughter, is absolutely phenomenal. As good as the performances are, though, I think the back-and-forth nature of the film makes it kind of difficult to really care about the characters.

The dialogue, especially in the first half of the film, is very clever. I think it would have been easy to overlook something that would seem like a small detail in this sort of movie (which is so often the case), so it's nice to see that special attention was paid to the dialogue by the screenwriters (Nicholas and Ted Griffin), the director, and the actors. The quality of it kind of wavers toward the middle of the film, though.

And then there's the twist. I think the problem with these kinds of films is that you almost expect there to be some kind of twist, so the only mystery is figuring out exactly what it will be. That's fairly easy to do with Matchstick Men, but that's not necessarily a criticism. It would be if the film completely relied on plot for its entertainment value, but fortunately the really good parts of the film (the comedy and the performances) go untainted. That's why it's worth seeing.