Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Matchstick Men (2003)
Director: Ridley Scott
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Roy may be a successful con artist, but the man has problems. Plagued by the ritualistic symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder, he is suffering from a Guilty Conscience, as well he might. Partner in crime Frank (Rockwell) recommends a trip to the shrink, who in turn suggests a reunion with Roy's long lost daughter. Played with maximum winsomeness by Lohmann, this irritating 14-year-old cutie pie turns out to be the key. Before he knows it, Roy's eating pizza, letting people wear their shoes in the house, and looking forward to leaving the grifting life behind. Naturally, there's one last big sting to complete before father and daughter ride off into the sunset. No prizes for guessing it's going to go wrong. Ridley Scott lets us enjoy the satisfying clicks and whirrs of the well-oiled celluloid con trick, while leaving plenty of head room for Cage to twitch and fret in. He even builds in some crawl-space for a few moral misgivings about Roy's job and also his new obsession with the girl. How you feel will largely depend on your reaction to egregious final-reel plot twists, but you'll certainly have been slickly entertained. (From a book by Eric Garcia.) LMu.Author: LMu
Cast & crew
Director: Ridley Scott
Producer: Jack Rapke, Ridley Scott, Steve Starkey, Sean Bailey, Ted Griffin
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman, Bruce Altman, Bruce McGill, Sheila Kelley, Beth Grant, Jenny O'Hara, Steve Eastin, Fran Kranz full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 116 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now