FOCUS (2015)

Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro, BD Wong, Robert Taylor, Adrian Martinez
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Scene of Intimacy and Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros  
Official Website: http://focusmovie.com

Opening Day: 26 February 2015

Synopsis: Will Smith stars as Nicky, a seasoned master of misdirection who becomes romantically involved with novice con artist Jess (Margot Robbie). As he’s teaching her the tricks of the trade, she gets too close for comfort and he abruptly breaks it off. Three years later, the former flame—now an accomplished femme fatale—shows up in Buenos Aires in the middle of the high-stakes racecar circuit. In the midst of Nicky’s latest, very dangerous scheme, she throws his plans for a loop… and the consummate con man off his game.

Movie Review:

What exactly did the poster designers had in mind when they designed the poster for Focus? That the film is a cool as **** film staring an equally slick as **** protagonist? This reviewer cannot decide if it’s the way Margot Robbie had her hand in Will Smith’s suit or the whole “staring-into-the-distance” look that fostered that vibe. 

Luckily, Focus sort of, kind of, meets that expectation.  

A film that provides an introductory lesson into the heists that professional con-rings run to scam suckers like you and this reviewer, Focus stars Will Smith as veteran conman Nicky Spurgeon and Margot Robbie as Jesse Barrett, an amateur con-artist who hopes to learn the tricks of the trade. Mutual attraction soon follows, and Jesse finds herself in a relationship with the measured and charismatic Nicky. However, things take a turn when Nicky leaves Jesse abruptly after successfully completing a major heist. The film would have ended at the 45 minutes mark, but alas, fast-forward to three years later and the couple meet again. This time however, Nicky’s client is none other than Jesse’s love interest: billionaire racecar owner Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro). 

From the get-go, it is clear that the role of Nicky Spurgeon was created specifically with Smith in mind. In fact, judging from the scenes flaunting Smith’s hot body and witty comebacks, Focus seemes to describe the Fresh Prince’s fate had he not turn up at the Bel-air mansion. Robbie, on the other hand, appears to have received the short end of the stick playing the wide-eyed and oh-so-bubbly Jesse. As beautiful and redundant as an ornamental vase, Jesse serves no purpose other than being Nicky’s love interest. It is noted with much irony that Jesse’s character is limited to her role as the innocent bystander in major heists. Relegated to the position of an innocent bystander, Jesse’s oblivion to Nicky’s scams and her genuine reaction to the con endorses the authenticity of the situation. 

Character development aside, the story and plot are another gripes that this reviewer has with the film. In particular, the three-year time skip at the mid-point is especially annoying. There is the sense that the film had been “restarted”, making time seemed more stretched out than usual. Luckily for Focus, Adrian Martinez’s comedic role as the IT-savy conman Farhard and the film’s wonderfully jazzy soundtrack are enough to keep the audiences focused on the later part of the film. 

With famous sleight-of-hand artist Apollo Robbins as consultant, it is no wonder that Focus delivers an impressive and detailed analysis of cons. The many sleight-of-hand tricks seen in Jesse’s interview are particularly entertaining. Privy to the con-rings’s operation, it is good fun watching Jesse and colleagues outwitting their victims right under their very noses. There is also a certain intellectual depth to the heists in the film, as seen in Nicky’s use of priming and the exploitation of medical knowledge in the final heist. Like multiple cherries on top of a Four Leaves Black Forest cake, the major heists in Focus were written and executed superbly,  providing the audience with “ohhhhhhh!” moments that are deeply satisfying.

Movie Rating:

(Better than expected, Focus is a film you can invest your Chinese New Year red packets on)

Review by Leng Mong