Matchstick Men
So I had this done, then lost it, so here goes again...
Matchstick Men is a movie about a con-artist named Roy (Nicolas Cage)
and his partner Frank (Sam Rockwell). Roy has some issues with dirt and
the outdoors, which eventually leads him to see a therapist and
eventually leads him to meet his long lost 14 year old daughter Angela
(Alison Lohman). The movie mainly centers on the budding relationship
between Roy and Angela. At the same time Roy and Frank are planning a
big con on a local target. Angela eventually learns of Roy's real
occupation and gets in on the action, which doesn't all go as planned...
Now going into the movie I expected to see the story of a disturbed
individual (Roy) and his relationship with his long lost daughter
(Angela). This is exactly what the movie delivers for the first 3/4 of
the film. It is all beautifully acted by Cage and Lohman. Cage gives
an over the top performance of his character's tics and need for
cleanliness. Normally this might be a little over the top, but I
thought it worked great considering we find out that Roy's problems were
all in his head. When given a placebo by his therapist all symptoms and
effects seem to go away (unless of course we are supposed to believe
that an over-the-counter menopausual medication cured him). The perfect
example of the mental aspect of Roy's problems is when he looses his
medication and goes into a cleaning fit. He scrubs down every surface,
vaccums all the floors, clenas all the windows, all while smoking pack
after pack of cigarettes. All these mental problems are also played
fantastically in his interacts with Angela. His lack of parenting
skills and the intrusion of a new person into his environment knock him
for a loop, which Cage plays fantastically. And keep in mind this
praise does not come easily, for I am not a big fan of Nicolas Cage
(other than his work in Adaptation).
The biggest disappointment from the cast is probably Sam Rockwell's job
as Frank. The character is flat and one dimensional. He lacks any
really depth of personality. But I blame this mostly on the role of
Frank in the movie. He is meant to be a background character, secondary
to both Cage and Lohman. I thought that Rockwell did a fine job with
what he was given, but he just wasnt given much of anything to work with
to begin with.
The last 1/4 of the movie in my mind is unnecessary to some extent. I
think the movie would stand fine on its own with just the main plot of
Roy and Angela, with the con staying in the background all the way
through. However, that being said, the ending is not the standard lame
Hollywood ending (until the very end at least). Without giving too much
away the end gives you some interesting twists. These twists wouldn't
be much in any other crime/thriller/suspense type movie, but with the
set-up of the movie being about the realtionship between Roy and Angela,
and the marketing of the movie this way, the generic twists come as more
of a surprise.
I will say however that the very end of the film (last 10 min or so) was
totally unneeded. It was a typical attempt to wrap everything up nicely
and let us all know that everything works out happily in the end. This
I thought the movie could do without. However, even with this blemish
at the end I thought that the film was solid and deffinatly worth the
price of admission.
RATING: Worth a Full Price Ticket