Focus

Films about con jobs or sting operations have graced the movie screens for years which many twists and turns to keep forever taking us by surprise. Films from "The Thomas Crown Affair" '68 to "The Sting" '73 to "The Italian Job" (both versions) to "American Hustle" '13, and many more in between, give us that clever and sneaky way about how these characters do what they do. So, when "Focus" came along, it was just fitting see this film so as to see how these characters work to pull off the ultimate sting.

Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith) is an extremely accomplished con man who has studied the science of human nature his whole life, takes an amateur con artist, Jess (Margot Robbie) under his wing. Soon Nicky and Jess become romantically involved, and with Nicky's profession of being a liar and a cheater for a living, he realizes that deception and love are things that don't go together. So, at the end of a con job at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Nicky gives Jess her share of the take and he walks. They split, only to see each other three years later in Buenos Aries. At this point Nicky enters a deal with Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro), a wealthy playboy who has a software program that will help his Formula 1 team triumph. Owens (Gerald McRaney), head of security for Garriga, has no trust toward Nicky especially when Nicky agrees to help Garriga sell a fake version of the program to his competitors. But as the plan goes into motion, he discovers that Jess and Garriga are a couple. Old feelings complicate the new arrangement...and then things get really messy.

Others to round out the cast are Adrian Martinez as Farhad, B.D. Wong as Liyuan, Brennan Brown as Horst, assistant of Nicky's, Robert Taylor as McEwen, Dotan Bonen as Gordon, Griff Furst as Gareth and Stephanie Honore as Janice.

This was directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa ("I Love You Phillip Morris" '09, "Crazy, Stupid, Love." '11). One thing I can say for these guys is that when they direct their actors, they don't go for the juggler in that the comedy isn't slap-stick, it is more dialogue oriented which I personally prefer, because the humor doesn't feel forced and desperate. The actors come across as real people in comedic, almost difficult situations. It was also written by Ficarra and Requa ("Cats & Dogs" '01, "Bad Santa" '03, "Bad News Bears" '05, "I Love You Phillip Morris" '09, "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" (Characters) '10). This was not too unfamiliar in that it had all the typical ingredients that one would find in a con-artist premised film. There were game playing not only between opposing parties, but between those on the same side, there were twists and turns with a hefty turn nearing the end. Suffice it to say there was not much new under the sun, but even with the similarities, after the first half of the film, the pace did pick up and it did give you a run for your money. There was even the theme song to "The Thomas Crown Affair", "The Windmills of Your Mind" as part of the end credits as sort of a homage since "Focus" and "The Thomas Crown Affair" were about the ultimate con artists.

If you can be patient with this film, it does pick up the pace about half way through. Surely they needed to establish the story and character development, but it simply took a while for it to occur. Smith was certainly a good choice for Nicky and it had a believable cast, but the writing could've been a bit tighter.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                              Rated: R                                 104mins.