Focus (2015) Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa. Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro. IMDB says: “In the midst of veteran con man Nicky’s latest scheme, a woman from his past – now an accomplished femme fatale – shows up and throws his plans for a loop.”
Review by Special Guest Dave
Focus stars Will Smith as Nicky, a veteran con artist, and Hollywood’s rising starlet Margot Robbie as Jess, an ambitious amateur as they swindle anything from each other to everyday Joe Blows to multimillionaires.
The movie opens with the leads meeting and after Jess fails to pull one over on Nicky, he takes her under his wing. After an introduction to his team of lovable crooks, the audience is whisked away to an audition of sorts for Jess. Using her already quality wallet lifting skills and irresistible feminine wiles, the following montage of beautifully choreographed pick-pocket ballet is one of the shining moments of the film.
There are moments where the pacing slows and the film seems to have a bit of an identity crisis, struggling to determine what it wants to be during the second act. Aspects of heists, thrillers, comedies and some romance are there, but it never really sets a definitive tone. The waffling between genres may retract from the total experience as Focus only ends up pulling off comedy really well.
Will Smith and Margot Robbie have great comedic chemistry and the supporting casts performance was stellar! BD Wong, Adrian Martinez, Gerald McRaney and Brennan Brown deliver completely different but equally hilarious characters. BD Wong and Will Smith delivered my favorite scene of the movie with both the raw tension of a serious thriller and comedic gold packed into a can’t back down, double or nothing bet-off in their five minute exchange.
Going in, I was expecting a serious heist/con movie sprinkled with comedy, but Focus ends up the reverse and it’s probably for the better. What it lacks in typical genre start to finish, tension is ultimately made up for by peaks of hilarity and brief moments of extreme tension. It also excels in avoiding the predictable tropes of similar films and provides some quality curve balls. There’s not a lot out right now. If you’re headed to the movies and want to seen something fun, Focus is a good pick.
