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After seeing the previews for
Matchstick Men, I expected something of the smooth crime flick genre—with a little
mystery, a little intrigue, and a kid thrown in for fun. I was in for a
surprise…
Nicolas Cage stars as Roy Waller, an obsessive-compulsive conman
who’s successfully running small-time scams with his partner, Frank (Sam Rockwell),
despite his out-of-control nervous ticks and an acute case of agoraphobia. In order to
get a refill on the drugs that keep him (somewhat) together, he finds himself talking to
Dr. Klein (Bruce Altman), a shrink who digs through Roy’s past and helps him find the
daughter he never knew he had.
Fourteen-year-old Angela (Alison Lohman)
swoops down into Roy’s life and turns it upside-down when she decides to crash at his
place for a while—because of a fight with her mother (Roy’s ex). And as Roy and Frank
are planning to pull off a huge con, Angela starts to figure out what it is that her dad
does for a living—and she gets Roy to teach her the tricks of the
trade.
Matchstick Men isn’t a smooth crime flick. It’s actually a
comedy. With a cute story about family relationships. And there’s some crime stuff
thrown in for fun. Although I was actually in the mood for a smooth crime flick (and not
a comedy) when I rented it, I still enjoyed it. And even though there are a few things
that work a little too well, the ending still shocked me.
The
cast, too, is fantastic. Rockwell does a great job as Roy’s protégé. Lohman is actually
pretty believable as a fourteen-year-old (even though she’s a decade older). And Cage is
spectacular in his obviously challenging role—it actually reminded me a bit of his role
in Adaptation.
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Pick up a copy of Matchstick Men. You might be surprised, but you
won’t be disappointed.
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