Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama, Police, Scams And Cons, Drugs, Suspense, Gangsters, Capers, Murder, Revenge, Deception
Tagline: It's not about the money. It's about the money.
Plot: What Jake Vig (Edward Burns) doesn’t know just might get him killed. A sharp and polished grifter, Jake has just swindled thousands of dollars from the unsuspecting Lionel Dolby with the help of his crew – Insideman Gordo (Paul Giamatti) and Shills Miles (Brian Van Holt) and Big Al – and two corrupt LAPD officers –Whitworth (Donal Logue) and Manzano (Luis Guzman). But when both Lionel and Big Al turn up dead, it becomes clear that Lionel wasn’t just any mark; as Jake soon learns, he was an accountant for eccentric crime boss The King (Dustin Hoffman).Never one to shy away from a challenge, Jake offers to repay "The King" by pulling off the biggest con of his career. The mark? Morgan Price, a banker with deep ties to organized crime. With so much riding on the outcome, Jake decides to bring in a brash, blonde pickpocket named Lily (Rachel Weisz), who joins the crew in a complex scheme involving corporate loans, creative accounting, wire transfers and off-shore accounts. The first sign of trouble comes when Lily arrives for work with a head of freshly dyed red hair, a bad omen if ever there was one. To make matters worse, Jake also must contend with his old nemesis, FBI agent Gunther Butan (Andy Garcia), Morgan Price’s henchman Travis (Morris Chestnut) and a double-crossing
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Discussion forum for this movie
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'Confidence,'' directed in smooth cuts and bright colors by James Foley from a painstakingly idiomatic script by Doug Jung, is so infatuated with the idea of style at the expense of everything else that it manages not to have any of its own.--A.O. Scott (The New York Times)
Confidence has a high enough entertainment quotient that it's possible to overlook a great many flaws. This brash production doesn't expect a lot more from its audience than undivided attention. It plays by the genre's rules and toys with the viewer's expectations, but it never does anything truly unexpected or amazing.  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
In this con game, Dustin Hoffman chews gum (and the scenery) and Ed Burns does his regular-guy shtick. Again. And we're the marks.--Charles Taylor (Salon)
"Confidence" is a flawless exercise about con games, and that is precisely its failing: It is an exercise. It fails to make us care, even a little, about the characters and what happens to them. There is nothing at stake.  --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
Jaunty, cocky, smug, clever -- bodacious, even -- this con-man drama with Edward Burns and a loathsomely smarmy Dustin Hoffman cuts quite a swath for most of its running time. It's like David Mamet on growth hormones.--Stephen Hunter (Washington Post)
Reasonable for what it is, but we’ve seen better executions in quality before B---Lee Tistaert (Lee's Movie Info)
"Confidence" starts out with a lot of energy, but it quickly loses steam as the plot progresses. It opens with a fake murder and a quick explanation of the characters. This is enough to get our attention, but it fails to retain it about midway, when we start losing interest in just about everything. 6/10--Scott Spicciati (Movie-Vault.com)
This is one of those rare films in which almost everything works, from the crisp direction and stylish performances to the witty dialogue, masterful story, and, most of all, the treacherous, deceitful, double-crossing characters. These guys really put the con in Confidence.  --Blake French (FilmCritic.com)
It's Tarantino meets Ocean's Eleven!  --Chad Law (MovieWeb)
Still, as pulp entertainment, "Confidence" is great fun and Foley's first good movie since the very different "Glengarry Glen Ross."  --Jack Mathews (New York Daily News)
I really enjoyed this movie from start to finish, mostly because of its fun cast and intriguing set-ups. 7/10--'JoBlo' (JoBlo.com)
Enjoyable, if not exactly original film that remains watchable due to some good performances and stylish direction by James Foley.  --Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)
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Beware movies that open with lengthy voice-over narration. Particularly if they star the ever-more-annoying Ed Burns, whose character in the clichéd caper thriller "Confidence" is tediously explaining why his body is lying in a pool of blood.  --Lou Lumenick (New York Post)
Despite being highly stylized and visually ambitious, there would be some definite merit in holding a gun to Director James Foley's head and demanding what he really wanted to accomplish with the pedestrian crime caper, Confidence.  --Lynda Lin (The Movie Insider)
"Confidence" is a very smart thriller that celebrates the act of lying or, to be more specific, the art of acting.--Mick LaSalle (San Francisco Chronicle)
A good con film, but unfortunately in a world full of great ones. Worth, however, seeing more than once, which cannot be said of a lot of other films. 7/10--Anton Bitel (Movie Gazette)
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