Release Date: June 2, 2015
Rating: R
Running Time: 105 minutes
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.
Focus. I enjoyed this movie up until the very end and by that I mean I hated the ending but I still really love the movie as a whole. Will Smith is on my auto watch list so I can’t say that I actually knew what this movie was about before turning it on. Margot Robbie is also becoming a favorite actress to watch so I was already very excited to watch this movie before it even began. I admit, I was unsure of how these two would work together but am so happy to say that they really do have great chemistry so thank goodness for taking this chance. Cut to the script.
I loved it (up until the clumsily handled conclusion). Aside from the ending, this screenplay is great. It’s clever. Charming. Funny. Slightly predictable but with enough surprises to balance it out. All around captivating. I’m so glad the right people were cast to give this screenplay life. As many of you know, I’m always down for a good con story and this had potential to be one from the very first scene.
Yes, it all falls apart in the final scenes that simply felt too paper thin (in that it was too complex for its own good) but I had so much fun leading up to all of it that I can pretty much watch the movie and enjoy every scene, being completely content with ignoring the end. Sure, it shouldn’t be that way. But you know what, I’m surprisingly okay in this instance because for some reason, here, just being in this world that was so wonderfully brought to life, was enough for me. This in itself was so much fun.
The world. The tone. Shout out to the cinematographer for this film, wonderful job. It’s a visually stunning film. I was enamored with it all. All of this and so much more…it’s kind of like being on a roller coaster and being more amazed and in awe of the behind the scenes, the making of the highs than the actual highs. If you’re up for that kind of ride, take some time out to watch Focus. You won’t be disappointed!
Masters of Misdirection: The Players in a Con (10 minutes) – In this feature, Pick Pocket Expert and Consultant for Focus, Apollo Robbins breaks down the players of a con (The Wire, The Stick, The Shade, etc…) and responsibilities of everyone involved, as well as con artist terminology and more. Needless to say, this was a really fun feature. I also really loved seeing rehearsal footage of Margot Robbie as she became more and more familiar with the art of pulling off a con. If you loved the concept of the movie, you’ll love this feature.
Also Appearing in this Feature:
Co-Writers/Co-Directors, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Cast Members Margot Robbie, Adrian Martinez, & Will Smith
Will Smith: Gentleman Thief (5 minutes) – In this feature, the cast and crew talks up the brilliant Will Smith, which is all well deserved so I didn’t mind. Then there’s Will, who talks about his fascination with this role, this world of con artistry. I loved that he pointed out the game changer of perception and how the con artist understands and shows the mark the things as they want to see them instead of how things really are. Hence the title, Focus. This was a great feature, quick and to the point. I enjoyed it.
Also Appearing in this Feature:
Co-Writers/Co-Directors, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Producer, Denise Di Novi
Cast Member, Margot Robbie
Consultant, Apollo Robbins
Margot Robbie: Stealing Hearts (5 minutes) – This was a fun feature as Margot talked about how fun and challenging this role was for her playing a pick pocket. I do think that her feature and Will’s could have been combined but if I were in these actors’ shoes, I wouldn’t mind that the features were their own haha so I guess it doesn’t really matter? Great features!
Also Appearing in this Feature:
Consultant, Apollo Robbins
Producer, Denise Di Novi
Co-Writers/Co-Directors, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Deleted Scenes (9 minutes) – There were four scenes, the first of which fell completely flat. The second and fourth were completely unnecessary so I’m glad that the former was cut and the latter was condensed. The third scene was more gag reel material than anything else as we saw many improv cuts from Adrian Martinez during the ambulance scene. Boy am I so glad that this film was edited the way that it was!
Alternate Opening (2 minutes) – This was a great opening but I much prefer the opening that made it in the final cut of the movie as this scene as the opening seems like too much too quickly. It’s completely understandable why this was cut as the opening scene. Still, great work in this scene though! Talk about pulling the rug right from under you!