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Friday, March 6, 2015

MOVIE REVIEW Focus
When The Lens And The Chemistry It Holds Is Illusion



Blurred chemistry: Will Smith as Nicky and Margot Robbie as Jess in Glenn Ficarra and James Requa's con-artist romance drama "Focus".
  Warner Brothers
       

by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW                                           
Friday, March 6, 2015

The fast scam, fast hustle world of Nicky (Will Smith) and Jess (Margot Robbie) amount to a house of illusions in "Focus", the con-artist romance drama written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa ("crazy, stupid, love.")  Dripping with color, allure and style, "Focus" has more than a few dull-thud moments interrupting any semblance of chemistry Mr. Smith and Ms. Robbie share.

Nicky takes Jess, who loves to pick-pocket watches, under his wing in New Orleans and elsewhere.  A con-man extraordinaire, he shows her the ropes and ropes her in to his club of amiable thieves.  Nicky warns Jess "that heart will get you killed" in the hustle life but like many of us Nicky ignores his own wise advice.  Within five scenes he knows he's (effortlessly) falling hard for Jess, whose eagerness and conscience are either a show of loyalty to him or turn-on-a-dime convenience.

"Focus" keeps us guessing as to who's playing whom, and often Mr. Ficarra and Mr. Requa's film tries to play us an audience.  B.D. Wong, a charismatic villain-type the manner of which you'd expect to see in an "Ocean's Eleven" or 007 film, is part of the heist of tricks, as is Gerard McRaney, who makes the most of his limited time on screen as a gruff-type looking to nail Nicky to the wall.  He's on to Nicky's assorted schemes and psychological maneuverings, many of which appear laughable on reflection. 

There's enjoyment and brightness in quite a bit of the first two-thirds of "Focus", with a few laughs to boot, but much of this caper is rooted in surface and gloss.  The con is in the couture and the actors who try to look interested in the cat-and-mouse con games being played on them and others.  Speaking of looks, Mr. Smith looks very tired here, and Ms. Robbie looks like a shimmering object you'd put on a mantelpiece.  Every time Nicky glimpses Jess in a different iteration he looks as if he's shocked to have found the missing ornament for a Christmas tree or the matching cufflink to his expensive suit.  Ms. Robbie is all decor and glamour, an interchangeable well-dressed card in a variable deck.  The problem is, both lead characters are hollow -- flat, if not flat-lined.  The sparks they provide are mostly in the sheen of the wardrobe they don. 

Thus the leads' interpersonal chemistry feels forced.  Some shots of them together look truncated and calculated enough to hide the lack of onscreen potency Ms. Robbie and Mr. Smith have.  Granted, "Focus" doesn't shy away from their intimate moments; it's that their moments lack a sense of conviction.  Their scenes are obligatory rather than connective or consequential.  And they are easily dispensable.  After doing its best with rather thin material "Focus" strains and stretches to fit its running time with a weird, forced plot twist, struggling to reach a resolution, ultimately laboring to the finish line.

In "Six Degrees Of Separation" years ago Mr. Smith had a cool, easy way as a con-man in John Guare's account of a true story.  The film was dank but he was its big sexy.  A jewel all his own, Mr. Smith possessed confidence and a razor-sharp skill-set.  As a Big Apple con-man who fleeced tons of cash from Manhattan millionaires, Mr. Smith was brilliant -- wickedly charming, fearless and ingratiating.  He popped off the screen.  A fresher-than-Fresh Prince.  In "Focus" he sags, seems bored and looks as if he's been to one-too-many rodeos. 

Ms. Robbie ("The Wolf Of Wall Street") has potential but "Focus" limits her.  She's too much of an assistant, less of an ingénue, and a mainly non-existent entity.  Her Jess is too much a sidekick to the beleaguered men who showcase her.  She's no Glenne Headly ("Dirty Rotten Scoundrels").  Jess is dependent, bewildered and despondent, saddled and mired in the lot of some sad-sack male gamblers who just don't know when to say when.

While I enjoyed "Focus" at times, it ran out of good cons to keep me entertained.  You can't teach this old film critic new tricks.  As for old superstars Mr. Smith's trademark cache has been cashed in.  Yesterday's shiny toys are inevitably put out to pasture.  Perhaps the con is truly on, and Mr. Smith himself could well be its intended target.

Also with: Adrian Martinez, Rodrigo Santoro, Brennan Brown, Robert Taylor.

"Focus" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for language, some sexual content and brief violence.  Its running time is one hour and 45 minutes.

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