I first had no idea what Matchstick Men could be about. Is it a certain expression for the job these guys had or for the psychological problem the guy played by Nicolas Cage had or what? Even though I don't see where the title comes from I must say, I was amazed by the story and also by the great acting of Nicolas Cage. I think this is the best movie I've ever seen of Nicolas Cage, and it's one of the best movies I've watched in a while. I can absolutely recommend it. The ending is also actually quite surprising. I wouldn't have thought it would end like this after all the tears that had fallen in the story. But it's a positive ending. Ah, I don't want to tell too much, people should watch this one themselves.
Watch TRAILERS at IMDb.
SYNOPSIS taken from Rotten Tomatoes
Meet Roy (NICOLAS CAGE) and Frank (SAM ROCKWELL), a couple of pros at the small-time con. As in con artists. Grifters. Matchstick Men. Take your pick.
What Roy, a veteran of the grift, and Frank, his ambitious protégé, are swindling - er, make that selling - these days are "water filtration systems," bargain-basement water filters bought by unsuspecting people who pay ten times their value in order to win bogus prizes like cars, jewelry and overseas vacations…which they never collect. These scams net the flim-flam men a few hundred here, another thousand there, which eventually adds up to a lucrative partnership.
Roy's private life, however, is not so successful. An obsessive-compulsive agoraphobe (and chain-smoker) with no personal relationships to call his own, Roy is barely hanging on to his wits, and when his idiosyncrasies begin to threaten his criminal productivity he's forced to seek the help of a psychoanalyst (BRUCE ALTMAN) just to keep him in working order.
While Roy is looking for a quick fix (i.e. pills), his therapy begets more than he bargained for: the revelation that he has a teenage daughter - a child whose existence he suspected but never dared confirm. What's more troubling, 14-year-old Angela (ALISON LOHMAN) wants to meet the father she never knew.
At first, Angela's appearance disrupts her neurotic father's carefully ordered routine. Soon, however, with his own unique spin on parenthood, Roy begins to enjoy a relationship he never dreamed of having with his daughter. But while he develops paternal feelings for the 14-year-old, she's developing a fascination with Daddy's questionable career. Finally, at Angela's insistence and against his better judgment, the overprotective con artist begins teaching her some tricks of the trade and, much to his ambivalent mix of surprise, pride and dismay, she displays a remarkable gift for the grift.
Now, like a kid with a new toy, Angela wants in on the partnership. But that could seriously jeopardize Roy's peace of mind - not to mention his whole way of life.
This film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "thematic elements, violence, some sexual content and language."
Article comments
1 - The Theory
i can't wait to see this. i really enjoyed Adaptation, which cage was brilliant in
2 - Michelle
I found Adaptation quite boring. But Matchstick Men was really superb! Watch, watch, watch, when you can. :)