Focus (2015) film review

It sort of feels like it’s been a while since Will Smith graced the big screen last, but the reality is that with Men In Black 3 in 2012, After Earth in 2013 and Winter’s Tale last year he’s been just as prevalent as ever, so maybe it’s just that he’s managed to sneak up on cinema goers with his latest film Focus. There’s been little in the way of promotion for the film until it’s appearance at the cinema, like it’s sidled up to us all, turned on the charm and broken down our defenses, which fits the film well. Building on the con artist storyline, and with little noise and fuss, it’s turned out to be a fun, sexy caper movie that appeared as if from nowhere and won us over just enough.

Focus hit the cinemas on the 27th February 2015 with Will Smith in the lead role as con man Nicky Spurgeon, who has spent his life building up a team of crooks to orchestrate everything from street crime syndicates to million dollar cons. However, his underworld plans get tested when he takes on beautiful protege Jess, played by newcomer Margot Robbie (The Wolf Of Wall Street), a grifter who’s keen to learn the tricks of the trade from Nicky and his fellow con artists.

It makes for an entertaining setup that develops quickly with more twists, turns and misdirection than a David Copperfield show. Nothing is ever quite what it seems and while there are the odd one or two trlls along the way, there’s more than enough to surprise even the most ardent Miss Marple fans, although, in all fairness, this is a film that’s way too cool for the average Agatha Christie reader.

It doesn’t pull any punches either. when it wants to be funny it does so with a fair amount of ease, but equally when it attempts to be serious or even brutal it carries it off with a direct style that adds to the impact of the film. There’s a couple of genius sections that shock so much that you can’t help but be convinced of the story’s intent. The neck brace scene is one of the best individual pieces of building intensity that we’ve seen in a while as you try to figure out what the hell is going on only for the reality of the situation to crash around you just as you realise where the slight tangent is actually heading. It’s featured in the trailer below, but if we’re honest we’d recommend not watching it and seeing it for yourself at the cinema first.

Will Smith is, as you’d expect, pretty slick in the role of the big time hustler, but he also does well to draw in enough emotion into the role to make it feel at least partially believable. He’s back with a whole lot of charisma, playing off the other characters with a strong understanding of the directorial intent of the tag team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.

Perhaps the best interplay is between Smith and Robbie, as they quip, bluff, cross and double cross in and out and in again through the revolving door of their professional and romantic relationship. They made a good onscreen partnership and with the addition of Brennan Brown and Adrian Martinez as Nicky’s right hand men, Horst and Farhad, you’ve got a funny con man team that puts Oceans + any number to shame at times.

The cast is also boosted by the likes of B. D. Wong who makes a brilliant appearance as big betting businessman Liyuan Tse and Robert Taylor, who ticks all the right boxes in his role as the brash and straight talking Aussie F1 team boss McEwen. On the darker side of the movie’s shady tracks, there’s Rodrigo Santoro (he was the voice of Stuart Little in the Brazillian dub, but you’ll probably recognise him more as Xerses from 300) as the nefarious rival F1 boss Garriga and Gerald McRaney as his odd henchman Owens, both of which play their shifting roles with aplomb.

One of our few significant gripes is that there’s an element of glamourising crime to such an extent that it might actually persuade some people that it might be a genuine career option for them. While this is countered by a pretty indefatigable message on the grim realities of crime, it’s countered by the sheer gaudy glitz of the con man lifestyle that Nicky and his team benefit from.

This leads on to our other minor niggle, which is that the street crime scenes look way too obvious to be credible. We can’t help but feel that in the real world, people, cops or security guards would pick up on some of the shoddier micro heists, but then it’s hard to say for sure. It makes crime look way too easy, adding to the earlier point about looking like crime pays, which doesn’t feel very realistic at times.

Focus may not be perfect, but it is a very entertaining and charming dark comedy caper that does enough to charm with its suble sex appeal and all out cool. It was well worth the cinema trip and we’d have to say that we’d happily sit through it all again, so it should go on to be a hit on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download when they follow later in the year. You can check out the trailer below to get a glimpse of what to expect, but you might be better of skipping it and heading to the big screen without spoiling any of the storyline surprises.

Focus (2015) movie review: 3.8/5

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Images:

Margot Robbie and Rodrigo Santoro get chummy by the pool.

Will Smith rocks a cool sports car.

Margot Robbie and DB Wong check out the pitch side action.