Matchstick Men (2003)

Matchstick Men2 And A Half Out Of 5Matchstick Men is a character driven dramatic thriller about a guy and his relationship with his daughter that is depicted from the scratch. The hidden cards up its sleeve is visible or easily predictable far before it even hits the screen but still it somehow manages to hold the audience in its own slow take. It is short on technical aspects like background score, art design, cinematography and editing. The camera work is decent and is captivating in its mediocre way but then it also never attempts to grow bigger than that, it's happy and delighted to be what it is. The adaptation by Nicholas and Ted Griffin is catchy and settles in quickly among the viewers with its gripping tactics that it uses every now and then. Ridley Scott; the director, holds on to its part and delivers what is anticipated from it, which is a nice execution of the script. The performance too is handled well by the protagonist Nicolas Cage and his supporting cast Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman who is equally good as the rest of the cast. Matchstick Men is as slim as it can get on terms of plot, drama, performance, execution, characters and its mundane textbook rituals that it won't let go off.

Nicholas Cage plays truly one of his best performances of his carreer. One of his last best too, because since the man has gotten several divorces behind him, he nowadays only acts in mediocre movies to pay alimony to his ex wives. But fortunately we can admire Cage in one of his last superb acting roles in "Matchstick Men".Nicholas Cage plays a con man who deprives naive, and vulnerable people of their money with smart con tricks. Besides stealing people's money Cage's character has an obsessive compulsive disorder, which can be described as a mentally disturbing need to obsessively clean his house from dusk till dawn. He lives his life secluded until he finds out he has got a daughter from a previous marriage. Will he quit his criminal con men work to take care of his daughter or will he continue to live a secluded con man life?Ridley Scott is mostly known for his blockbuster action movies. This movie is none of that, on the contrary it is a real clever con men story. And the acting in it is superb. I must confess that I was stunned to read that Ridley Scott directed this movie, because this director only minimally directs his actors, which makes the acting in "Matchstick Men" even more impressive. Smooth, enticing, endearing, funny and suspenseful. But most of all this is truly a very smart story. Often those smart plots are only fun to watch for just one time, but "Matchstick Men" has become a classic con men movie that has stood the test of time. I have watched it over 5 times, know exactly who gets conned by who and I still love it so much. The true to life endearing characters are to thank for that. Great acting. Great story. Con men classic.

Greetings from Lithuania."Matchstick Men" (2003) is simply a great movie by a great Ridley Scott. It is as much about con as well the ones who are doing them. Acting was fantastic by all involved. Script is very smart, and i mean not just about cons - it was clearly written by a smart people. Directing was top - notch, movie is expertly paced and at running time 1 h 50 min it never drags and is entertaining and involving from start till finish. Overall, "Matchstick Men" is a great movie. It is funny, but it's not a straightforward comedy. It is a very good, good feel movie.

Roy Waller (Nicolas Cage) is a con man in Los Angeles with partner Frank Mercer (Sam Rockwell). They sell over the phone and then even con them in person. Roy suffers from OCD about cleanliness. He suffers a panic attack and his psychiatrist Dr. Harris Klein (Bruce Altman) ask about his ex-wife Heather (Melora Walters). She was pregnant at the time of their divorce fourteen years ago. He contacts his daughter Angela (Alison Lohman) and he's rejuvenated. Roy agrees to work with Frank on a long con against businessman Chuck Frechette (Bruce McGill).It's a great con movie. Nicolas Cage's jittery performance is quite effective. Alison is terrific. She makes Cage's performance more than just weird mannerisms. They develop a great father daughter relationship. It was a bit of a surprise that she was in her 20s in real life. Although I didn't think she was that old, maybe that was part of the reason that I did foresee the final twist which detracts from the shock. There's something a little off with her. Sam Rockwell can't be overlooked. He's also terrific.