by John Ralph
Daily Lobo
Ridley Scott, the director of such masterpieces as "Gladiator" and "Black Hawk Down," can claim yet another spectacular film.
The movie promises a sarcastic adventure flick and delivers a surprisingly touching and interesting depiction of a father-daughter relationship.
"Matchstick Men" stars Nicolas Cage as Roy Waller, a con man. His partner, Frank (Sam Rockwell from "Green Mile" and "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind") helps Roy in various schemes to take money from nice, unsuspecting people.
In the beginning, the two con an elderly couple by claiming they have won a prize and all the couple has to do is buy a water filtration system at four times the retail price.
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By posing as investigators, Roy and Frank gain the couple's trust by revealing the couple has been conned. Not knowing Roy and Frank are the con artists, the couple discloses their bank account information so these "investigators" can catch the alleged criminals.
As an interesting character quirk, Roy suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and it makes him edgy around areas he considers unclean.
In one scene, a sliding glass door is opened and Roy panics. Tiny germ particles can be seen through the fast, unnerving movements of the camera - an effective moment of great cinematography.
Roy's disorder doesn't stop short of making him clean his entire house when low on self-prescribed medication or opening and closing doors in threes. This grueling disease forces Roy to seek a therapist who, not believing he has a disorder, prescribes him menopause medication.
More importantly, this therapist reunites Roy with his long-lost daughter, Angela, played by Alison Lohman. His awkward relationship with his daughter starts off shaky at best.
"I'm not good at being a dad," Roy says. "I barely get by being me."
Eventually it matures into a normal father-daughter relationship. The new, small family bowls together and even cons a woman out of $300 with an invalid lottery ticket.
Eventually, one of the team's schemes goes wrong and Roy takes it out on Angela, sending her home crying. This spirals him further into his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Angela has become his medication; whenever he's with her, Roy pays no mind to his troublesome ailment.
Moviegoers can enjoy this film on a few different levels. It's quirky, yes, but it's also a delicate portrayal of the remarkable relationship between Roy and Angela.
Great lines are also a huge part of what makes "Matchstick Men" work. At one point, Roy tells a soon-to-be enraged victim, "For some people, money is foreign films without subtitles." Also notable in "Matchstick Men," is its ability to deliver hilarious, well-timed comedy, but not at the expense of good acting.
Scott and Cage can sleep soundly knowing they produced a well-made, marvelous film.
