Diversion

Just watched "Focus", a movie which made some buzz 2-3 years ago mainly because the rumored romance between the two main actors, Will Smith and Margot Robbie. I don't know what they actually did off-screen, but on-screen they have no chemistry at all.

Focus is a movie about con-artists. It doesn't try to follow the steps of "The Sting" or "Ocean's eleven", but it has the same goal, to confuse the audience on who is playing who... and here is where the problems are starting to arise...

The plot is paper thin and every con seems unnecessary and overcomplicated. There aren't that too many cons to begin with, but every one of them seems forced. A futile effort from the writers, to "amaze" the audience.

You see, to make the audience to expect a twist is basically a bad thing. Even the average viewer had, possibly, better twists in mind than those in "Focus". More plausible and more fun to watch. Here the tricks are too over-the-top in their execution to swallow, and overall unimpressive, leaving a bad aftertaste...

The movie looks colorful, but the acting is pale. Will Smith seems bored possibly because of an early realization that this movie won't work.

Overall: Not a satisfying movie, including the lukewarm ending. The twists you expecting from a con-artist's movie are there, but they are unclever and forced. Maybe its time to dust that DVD of "The Sting" from the selves...

.

Master con-man Nicky 'Mellow' Spurgeon (Will Smith) is intrigued by amateur thief Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie). He shows her a few moves. She tracks him down later which he expected. She begs him to be her mentor and he lets her into his crew running cons in New Orleans. However at the end, he leaves her behind. Three years later, he's running a con and is surprised to see Jess again in Buenos Aires.

This is meant to be a fun caper movie and it is just that at times. I really like Margot Robbie whenever she plays up her fun side. Will Smith could smile a little more and have a bit more fun. They seem to have fun flirting but the movie needs more moments of fun. This pairing has potential which is not fully realized.

-Focus (2015) movie review: -Focus is a crime flick that follows con-man Nicky, played by Will Smith, as he meets and trains a new counterpart Jess, played by Margot Robbie, in the ways of being a con-artist. This comes complete with twists, trust issues, rich people, and all kinds of Oceans 11 style problems.

-For what it was, I really enjoyed Focus. It has a few small problems, but was good.

-The story felt original and was hard to predict, making the twists even better and more shocking. Even if they were a tiny bit forced.

-The pace was really good for the first half, and the second half. But the first half is all fun and the second half is all plot. Neither was bad, but the second half was less fun.

-The acting is really good. Both Will and Margot did a great job! -The characters are deep and interesting. Will Smiths character especially had a lot to offer in the way of charisma and twists.

-The music was fitting and some of it was memorable.

-Another thing I liked was seeing the inside of the whole con-man thing you see in movies. Like stealing watches looks so much cooler in this because they explain it.

-Really the negatives are small. There are some inconsistencies and some added drama that takes the audience out of reality alittle, but it was compelling, well-made, and entertaining! There is not that much else to say, because Focus is worth seeing in theaters! -It is rated-R for some language, a moderate, but not heavy amount, and some brief sexual content. A PG-13 amount probably.

I am a huge fan of Will Smith's acting and adorable Margot Robbie, she's stunning and is in my mind the best female actress out there by far. She's improved a lot since this film was made even.

Although the concept of watching grifters operate was interesting it just couldn't ever seem to elevate or establish a solid story. Instead you watch just kind of waiting and expecting Smiths character and Robbie's character all in love. The awkward part about it though is that despite that being what the film is going for, I don't really see any on screen chemistry between Smith and Robbie. At the very least it feels very artificial.

The scene at the football game is epic though. That scene alone made the film worth watching for me. Brilliantly set up and acted by all involved. In fact I'd recommend you skip the movies and just watch that scene on YouTube.

The title "Focus" had potential among the quantitatively declining Con- Artist genre. Although brilliantly centered and set up with a decent cast and setting - the execution of intelligent criminal activity was poor and often justifying or explaining trickery and illusion as "he's just so good at it." - failing to satisfy the audience with an insight into the brilliance that is a con-centered plan.

I love heist movies. I love intricate con movies. I love crime movies and I'm sad to say this doesn't really come close to fitting anywhere between those genres best and brightest. Instead you're left feeling slightly amused, slightly tired, slightly relieved that it's over but kind of happy you saw it anyway - I dread to think how badly this movie would have been were it not for will smith.