No movie star is as big as Will Smith, and nobody knows that better than Smith himself. With a swagger that rarely plays as charming, and the most enviable blockbuster-to-bomb ratio in Hollywood, Smith has carried duds to box office success through sheer star power and willed megabudget vanity projects into existence for the sole purpose of giving his kids something to do. In addition to his talent, Smith’s greatest asset is clout and his ability to wield it to maximum effect, gaining the public’s trust that his movie is worth seeing simply because he’s involved.
So it’s easy to see why writing- directing team Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love., I Love You, Phillip Morris) would cast Smith as a breezy, unflappable master of confidence games in the con caper flick, Focus. Smith plays Nicky Spurgeon, a lifelong thief who takes on protégé Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie). Jess is talented but sloppy, resulting in a failed attempt to rob Nicky with a botched jealous-husband-with-a-gun routine. Nicky takes Jess under his wing, training her while the chemistry between the two escalates.
Any plot description beyond that would either reveal too much of its secrets or dwell on the superfluous, and this movie has plenty of both. Throughout Focus, the gang subliminally places ideas in marks’ heads long before the score to shape their behavior, causing them to make decisions they normally would not have without becoming overly suspicious. The film attempts the same with us; images of dice and gambling, subtle gestures and camera tricks are intended to make the viewer believe something might happen a certain way before the truth is revealed.
It’s a cute trick, and works extremely well, once, midway through in a scene far more sophisticated, tense and effective than has ever been found in a Will Smith movie. It’s stunning and I won’t say anything more about it, except that when it’s over, Ficarra and Requa are never able to duplicate the scene’s impact no matter how much they stack the deck. From that point on, you’re always looking for the angle, and even when you can’t predict it, you know it’s there.
Not that they don’t try. Everything is stylized in this movie, which makes for a pleasant watch when the directors fall back on the charisma between their two leads and a complicated, rewarding score. But most of the time, it feels like they’re killing time instead of building atmosphere.
With a terrific supporting cast (including an unforgettable turn by BD Wong, finally being given the chance to chew up the scenery as only he can), Focus takes a gamble by placing most of the film on the shoulders of relative newcomer Robbie and pro-in-need-of-a-comeback Smith. It pays off, at least at first, with Robbie demonstrating she’s more than the sexpot in The Wolf of Wall Street, and Smith proving he can work outside the comfort zone of Smith, Inc. Focus is more than the crime story version of Hitchcock that the trailers imply, and it exceeds expectations even as it repeats itself.
Playing this week
American Sniper
Birdman
The DUFF
Fifty Shades of Grey
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Kingsmen: The Secret Service
The Lazarus Effect
McFarland, USA
Paddington
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
Still Alice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213
