Film Review: Matchstick Men (2003)

Ridley Scott made many great and memorable films, but his filmography also includes titles that managed to slip through the cracks of public consciousness and become relatively obscure. One of those is 2003 drama The Matchstick Men.

The film is based on the eponymous novel by Eric Garcia. The protagonist, played by Nicolas Cage, is Roy Waller, Los Angeles man who, despite suffering from Tourette syndrom and obsessive compulsive disorder, possesses superb intelligence. This allowed him to take advantage of those less intelligent than him and maintain career of successful confidence man, running the string of cons with associate and protege Frank Mercer (played by Sam Rockwell). Following the episode of panic attack, he starts psychotherapy and is encouraged to meet with Angela (played by Alison Lohman), his 14-year old daughter whom he never saw since divorcing her pregnant mother Heather (played by Melora Walters). This encounter leads to Roy starting to reevaluate his life and possible change of career, while, at same time, he not only admits his criminal way olf life to Angela and even teaches her number of tricks.

Quality of Scott’s films almost always depend on the quality of the script. If given a good script, Scott would deliver a masterpiece. If given a mediocre script, Scott would deliver garbage. It would be too cruel to characterise Matchstick Men as such, but the film he delivered looks strangely underwhelming and disappointing for someone who has big hits like Gladiator or cult classics like Blade Runner in his record. Part of the problem is in its main star Nicolas Cage, famous for his undoubted talent and energy he puts in his roles and infamous for ways he wastes such efforts on undeserving projects. In case of Matchstick Men Cage appears to be attracted to his character’s psychological afflictions, making the whole film look annoyingly like typical “Oscar bait”. Cage makes Roy look so dysfunctional that is simply difficult to imagine him as some sort of effective con man who could even serve as someone’s mentor. The rest of cast is mostly solid, including Alison Lohman, charming young actress who retired few years after this role and who effectively plays what appears to be the most innocent and sympathetic character in the film. Unfortunately, all good will The Matchstick Men gained at the beginning is wasted in its latter part, with “clever” twist that would be predictable and annoying to the more experienced audience and even more so with epilogue added in order to give some sort of happy ending to otherwise bleak story. The best thing about Matchstick Men is soundtrack based on 1960s pop music, but those likeable uplifting songs aren’t enough to elevate this film above mediocre levels.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

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