Matchstick Men strikes spark
Matchstick Men
PG-13
116 minutes
**** (out of *****)
By Michael Redman
There is a saying that got played out decades ago: "Life is what happens
while you're busy making other plans." Although it sounded insightful the
first few times, soon it was turned into a button, a t-shirt, a bumper
sticker and probably a Cracker Jacks prize.
It sounds trite now, there's still some truth there. The best laid plans of
mice and men and all that. The trick is to recognize when life and the plan
aren't peacefully co-existing. In real life, sometimes it's difficult to see
when that isn't happening. In reel life, it's a Big Theme.
Roy Walker (Nicolas Cage) has a plan. He's an experienced and accomplished
con man - "con artist" in Roy's words. He doesn't especially like his chosen
career, but he's good at it and has a stash of ill-gotten loot.
But there are some things that aren't working in his life. He's
obsessive-compulsive. He has to close each door three times. Neat and tidy
to an extreme fault, everything has to be in the right place and it has to
be clean. There's only one thing on the menu: Starkist Tuna. All of this is
while he's on his meds. When he runs out, it gets worse. Much worse.
He's not having much fun. And then, suddenly, there's this teenage daughter
he never knew he had and his plan is shot to hell.
There are several very different things going on in this film. Usually
operating minor flimflams, Roy and his partner Frank (Sam Rockwell) are
getting ready to pull a big con on what seems to be an easy mark. At the
same time, Roy and his daughter Angela (Alison Lohman) are attempting to
forge a relationship. Through all of this, Roy is battling his neurotic
problems with more than a few laughs for the audience.
Reluctantly, Roy begins to teach Angela to grift. A chip off the old block,
she's a natural. In giving her advice that he doesn't take himself, he hands
us the key to the film. Roy might want to pay a little more attention to
what is going on.
There's a little "Odd Couple" here, some "Paper Moon", a bit of "The Sting"
with even a touch of a Lifetime movie tossed in. Just when you think you've
got the movie pegged, it shifts gears. Because of this, it's easy to be
blindsided by an unexpected plot turn.
It's to director Ridley Scott's credit that not only do these all take place
in the same movie, but they move from one to the other seamlessly. Scott has
a long, mostly distinguished, history of film from spectacular science
fiction ("Alien", "Blade Runner") to "message" comedies ("Thelma And
Louise"). "Matchstick Men" is a rare one for him. There are a few action
scenes, but it's mostly on a human level with some effective dark comedy and
he does a fine job.
The cast is equally impressive. Cage continues to excel in playing quirky
characters. His performance coupled with quality editing puts us inside the
mind of the tormented. The temptation in such a role is to head over the
top. Thankfully Cage only succumbs to that particular sin a few times.
Cage and Lohman are completely convincing as the newly formed father and
daughter. The 24 year-old actress is surprisingly believable as a girl 10
years younger. Rockwell provides the much-needed slob contrasting Roy's life
of order and steals the show on more than one occasion. Even the minor
characters are well acted with Bruce McGill as the intended target, a
standout.
There are a few minor problems. At times the film slows down to a crawl.
Even for a story about an obsessive-compulsive, some scenes are repeated too
often. Parts of the ending are telegraphed a little too early, but to give
it credit, in most other movies of this genre, you'd have anticipated the
entire plot about 15 minutes into it.
In keeping with the multiple storylines, the film has multiple endings. Like
the rest of the film, it's exactly what you expect and then it's not and
then it changes again. Somewhat like everyone's life.
(Michael Redman has written film reviews in Bloomington for over a quarter
century and boys are his arms tired. Email your favorite con jobs to
redman@bluemarble.net.)
--
mailto:redman@bluemarble.net
Film reviews archive:
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X-RT-RatingText: 4/5
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