FOCUS (R)
Released by Warner Brothers Pictures
Review by Adam Mast
There have been a lot of great con and heist movies throughout the years. THE STING, PAPER MOON, THE GRIFTERS, MATCHSTICK MEN, OCEAN’S 11, and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS immediately spring to mind. I wish I could say FOCUS falls into the same category. Quite frankly, it doesn’t. If you’ll pardon the pun, FOCUS lacks focus.
In FOCUS, Will Smith unleashes his inner George Clooney in the form of Mellow, a professional con man who brings lovable (and gorgeous) up-and-comer Jess (Margot Robbie) to his crew. Together, they set out to engage in a series of New Orleans-based scams. Jess is certainly whet behind the ears, but she’s a quick learner and with a master like Mellow at the helm, the sky’s the limit.
Eventually, the love bug enters the equation and the only thing more intrusive than romance in the life of a con man is a gambling problem. Unfortunately, it appears that Mellow will have to deal with both.
FOCUS benefits from charismatic star power, there’s no doubt about that. As expected, Smith plays Mellow with a mellow, smooth talking charm while an energetic Margot Robbie (THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, the upcoming Z FOR ZACHARIAH) is bubbly and cute as the twinkle in Mellow’s eye. FOCUS offers up a strong supporting cast as well. The standouts are an energetic BD Wong and a fiery Gerald McRaney. Also along for the ride is hilariously offensive Smith sidekick Adrian Martinez. If Smith is channeling his inner George Clooney here, then Martinez is channeling his inner Jack Black.
FOCUS is rather old fashioned in the way that it unveils its central relationship but at the same time, this movie feels incredibly labored in the way that it constantly tries to deceive viewers. In short, it simply tries too hard. Since this is a story about con artists, it’s obvious that there’s going to be a lot of deception at play, but does FOCUS engage? Not really.
Admittedly, there are a couple of reveals in the final act that emerge as a bit of a surprise, but by the time we get to those reveals, I more or less lost interest in what was going on. The film’s best moments happen in the first hour. The highlight being an immensely entertaining battle of wits (and luck) between Mellow and BD Wong’s amusingly confident (and drunk) high roller Liyuan.
Interestingly enough, as individual actors, Smith and Robbie are undeniably attractive and they each have charisma to spare. As a duo though, they don’t really bring the heat (or the chemistry) and because I didn’t really buy into their relationship in the first place, the second hour of the film simply isn’t as effective as I’m quite certain directors/screenwriters Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE., I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS) intended it to be. FOCUS isn’t a bad movie but given the star power, I hoped it would be more engaging.
