Matchstick Men (2003)

Matchstick Men (2003)

 9/10

 

Starring

Nicolas Cage

Sam Rockwell

Alison Lohman

 

Directed by Ridley Scott

 

There is nothing better than revisiting classics and just rekindling your love for cinema. I do think we don’t get them as good as we used to, but maybe it’s just me getting old saying that. Or maybe the declining cinema numbers and the failing Netflix figures corroborate my theory. I do hope these golden days return soon.

If you get the chance to appreciate talent, go see this movie by Nicolas Cage, based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Eric Garcia. This movie is one of those classics that you must be in for the long haul if you want to fully appreciate its class. The acting and plot are captivating, and the movie has like two plots running together: Roy (Nicolas Cage) and his daughter Angela (Alison Lohman) bonding, or the second plot, which is Frank’s (Sam Rockwell) big con score that Roy and Angela help him pull off. The movie makes these two things the center of everything—if we’re not focusing on the first, we’re on the second. If you’ve seen The Usual Suspects, where everything comes into full view in the last few minutes, this movie is like that. There’s a bigger plot at play that doesn’t come into full view until the final minutes, and that will hit you right in the gut.

Matchstick Men introduces us to two characters, Roy and Frank, who perform cons on people and live off that money. Roy has been doing this for years and has amassed a fortune, information Frank is privy to. Frank wants to have this sort of security too and has been planning a big score. One of the challenges to fulfilling this big score is Roy. Roy has OCD, is a germaphobe, and has Tourette’s. He’s a basket case, so Frank arranges for him to see a psychologist he knows. The treatments have him talk about his past, his failed marriage, and a probable child. Roy gives the doctor his ex-wife’s number, hoping he can help call her to find out about his daughter, whom he abandoned more than fourteen years ago. One night, Roy gets a visit from a girl named Angela, who says she is his daughter and gives him the tale that proves it.

Angela brings Roy some comfort and helps him put his medical issues in check. Frank and Roy were working the score when Roy invites Angela and trains her on how to be a con artist.

I’ll stop here and let you take the time to go see one of the best con movies out there.