There is something about a con man movie that makes you really understand people in this world, there is a science to just about everything and you can use it to your advantage. Some people, like Nicky (Will Smith), have been manipulating people their whole lives. He was born into the game of hustling, tricking and pulling one over on people and so when somebody else is trying to pull a con on him, he would instantly know. Enter Jess (Margot Robbie), who could probably pull one over on any guy with her looks alone, but she's trying her hand at striking it big with some small time cons of her own. When she tries to pull a classic play on Nicky, he plays along and pokes fun at just how terrible she really is at this sort of thing and she should probably quit while she's ahead. She, of course, doesn't take this advice and the two end up on a path filled with heists, twists and intense drama.
You could not find two people with better on screen chemistry than the one that goes on between Will Smith and Margot Robbie. Most of the time the two are together they act like old friends who know one another inside and out, laughing at one another and working together in sync. Will Smith perhaps needed this movie and great combination the most as his past few films haven't gone over too well. While talking about the premise of Focus with a few friends, I pointed this fact out and how Smith's character looked like a return to some of his earlier and top notch work. He saunters around on screen with plenty of confidence and emotion, using that trademark ability that I love from his work and that is the ability to make me laugh one minute and spurt out a tear the next. As for Robbie, she has already proven to be a great actress, The Wolf of Wall Street immediately springs to my mind and here she brings even more of her trademark style. She is an incredibly beautiful woman but that's not the only card she has to play with that smile and spunky personality that worked insanely well with Smith's Nicky character.
The story goes through three sort of separate arcs. After Nicky and Jess get acquainted with one another, he jets off to New Orleans where he is putting together a massive get together of players. It's something that he's apparently done countless times before as everyone knows the infamous "Mellow" who runs the biggest trade for the area. Jess has followed him and ends up getting brought in on the action. There's a brief sequence of how plays are run for cons and the many different ways regular people get screwed over every day, getting credit card information stolen, wallets lifted and even stealing the filters on your camera for some reason. What's great though is Jess proves to be a natural at it all despite her initial ditsy confusion to everything being explained to her. She chats up guys and distracts everyone she comes across as you see the rest of Nicky's team come along and swipe their valuables. This gets Nicky's attention and from here you could probably tell what was going to happen next.
This leads to perhaps the most intense and intricate scheme that I have scene in a long time. Throughout the movie there are constant little cues and prompts to pay attention to, it's a tell just like in Poker to what will probably come next. Without giving this insanely cringe worthy sequence away, you will see Nicky has quite a gambling problem to deal with and in the suite at the Superdome, he lays it all on the line. A delightfully strange, Liyuan (B.D. Wang) joins in on the action here as well.
What lies next was a bit of a confusing part for me in Focus. The last scene that I mention gives off so much tension and intrigue that you could have ended the movie right then and there. What happens next is a three year time skip, Nicky and Jess had gone their separate ways but have now been reunited by separate cons but ones with the same mark. Nicky's part in this sequence is far more interesting in terms of what he ends up doing but the continued romance that takes place between Jess and him feels lack luster. When you end up finding out what Jess's con is too, you almost can't believe that it was what she was doing the entire time. Nicky's estranged father played by Gerald McRaney also gets shoehorned into this section of the film and just left me with a soar taste for the ending of the movie.
For the most part though I truly enjoyed Focus. With con movies I am always on my toes and ever vigilant to try and figure out what may be going on for myself to see if I could spot the con. I have to say that I saw one or two things coming but I was genuinely surprised by some of the bigger picture ploys that Will Smith's character played on myself and others. Smith and Robbie were also excellent together, playing off one another and coming out strong in all their scenes. If Focus had ended after the Superdome scene in New Orleans, I would not have any problems with the movie because the rest just felt unnecessary additions to a great ending.
Good:
- Great dialogue and premise
- Smith and Robbie's wonderful chemistry together
- The entire Superdome scene is incredible
- A great soundtrack
Bad:
- The last half of the movie could be chopped out and thrown away
- Weak ending that has an even weaker twist
Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10
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