Movie Review: “Focus” is Predictable but Doesn’t Disappoint

Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the duo behind Crazy, Stupid, Love and  I Love You Phillip Morris, have joined together again to deliver a stylistic confidence man movie in the vein of Oceans 11 with a tighter cast led by Will Smith.

Smith stars as Nicky, a third generation and highly respected con-man who encounters Jess, an aspiring novice played by Margot Robbie (Wolf of Wallstreet), on a comically failed con attempt. After giving Jess a few pointers she manages to track Nicky down and convinces him to take her on as his protégée. Nicky reluctantly agrees to find that Jess is a natural while conning tourists of a football championship game in New Orleans. The film is fast paced in the beginning with a Rosetta Stone style of full immersion in to the world of scamming. Nicky and his crew teach Jess various techniques while Jess shows off a few of her own. The two connect intimately and it’s a joy to watch; Smith and Robbie have more than enough chemistry to pair them as a romantic-comedy couple… Until the football championship game is over and he cuts her loose. The sweet romance of a con man.

The film settles in the second act which takes place three years after we’ve been exposed to the intricacies of the con world and are now along for a seemingly simple job for Nicky: a con at the behest of the wealthy race car team owner Garigga, played by Rodrigo Santoro (300, 300: Rise of an Empire). The job, of course, becomes complicated when he discovers Jess is now the girlfriend of his current employer. Nicky is torn between the job and the girl he regrets letting go while Jess is torn between her current relationship and her former mentor she fell hard for.

Gerald McRaney (House of Cards, Southmire) is a perfect on screen adversarial match to Will Smith as Garigga’s muscle, Owens. Owens is ever suspicious of Nicky and the two share a particularly well executed scene that borders on an interrogation but is more of a lecture about the laziness of a younger generation. Adrian Martinez, whom you may recognize as the goofy cheese head perpetually cheering for Aaron Rodger’s “Discount Double Check” in the series of State Farm commercials, plays Farhad, Nicky’s friend and con-art associate. Martinez manages to provide comic relief in a movie lead by Will Smith, something one would only think possible by Kevin James or Martin Lawrence. Just about every crude line of his evokes laughter and he is sure to reprise the relief role in more films to come.

Focus benefits from a number of beautifully shot locations from New York, New Orleans, and Buenos Aires . The visuals are big and bright; especially those shot in the large IMAX format, but the intimate shots are not neglected. The focus (literally) of the film is manipulated just enough in tense scenes to align the audience with Nicky’s shift in thought as he has to think on his feet and change his game plans mid-con. The film is only problematic in its plot. The film’s story is simple and predictable but tries ever so hard to convince you that you don’t have it figured out when you already have. It’s a lot of work but the effort is definitely appreciated.

Focus, like a con man, is clever, smart, and dedicated to staying one step ahead of your expectations. Unfortunately, in the very end, the film falls just short of this task but still delivers a fun and visually exciting romantic heist film.

Focus opens in theaters everywhere Friday, February 27^th.