Who's being conned? (Confidence (DVD))

Member Name: cswann

Product:	Confidence (DVD)
Date:	20/01/04 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good cast, Pacy thriller

Disadvantages: Holes in the plot

?Confidence? was a movie I was keen to go to the cinema to see last year when it came out. The trailers were good, the cast looked great, and I went along.

The main star is Ed Burns, who seems to be hot stuff right now.
He has already starred with Tom Hanks in ?Saving Private Ryan? and with Robert de Niro in ?Fifteen minutes?. He has the look of a grittier Ben Affleck but, in my opinion, and many others, is a much better actor.
Burns has written and directed his own feature films (?Sidewalks of New York? is probably the best known), so he?s much more than just an actor in any case.

In ?Confidence? he plays a character called Jake Vig, an ambitious conman, who maybe, just maybe, gets out of his depth. Whether you like him or not ( I think we?re meant to warm to him, but the character does verge on the smarmy and obnoxious at times) he?s well cast and his acting?s fine.

The movie also stars Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, and Andy Garcia ? it?s a pretty good cast then, I think most would agree.

?Confidence? is a crime thriller directed by James Foley, whose last film (in 1992) was Glengarry Glen Ross?. ?Confidence? itself is along the lines of The Grifters or The Sting.
The title?s not that great (I kept having to think what it was ? knew it started with Con but couldn?t remember the rest ? maybe it?s just my hopeless memory), but when you realise the movie is about having confidence in your abilities, and maybe it?s also about what, in the old days, used to be called confidence tricksters, it makes perfect sense.
Still not really a memorable title, for me.

Hoffman plays a kingpin in the criminal underworld, whose name is ?The King?. The role was originally earmarked for James Gandolfini, but in the end Hoffman was approached instead. For me, it seemed like a bit of a welcome back to him, as it seems like a long time since he?s appeared in anything decent. I haven?t seen things like ?Moonlight Mile? (2002) or
?Wag the Dog? (1997), so I can?t comment on these movies, but the last thing I?d seen him in was ?American Buffalo? from 1996.
Whatever, I?d say the role of The King in this movie represents a good choice of role for him, and Hoffman?s presence lifts the movie several notches, too.

Robert Forster is the shady financier who?s targeted in the latest scam ? it?s a shame we don?t see more of Forster (the bail bondsman in Jackie Brown) in this movie.
The same is true of Andy Garcia, who turns in a typically understated but obviously great performance. Neither of them feature largely.
Much of the real ?acting? comes in the exchanges between Ross and the King ? and these scenes with Burns and Hoffman are very good. I just wish we could see a lot more of Garcia, in particular.

Rachel Weisz?s role as a pick-pocket who gets included on Ross?s scam is a welcome one ? the movie would have been just a little too top-heavy on the old testosterone for my liking without her.

Luis Guzman and Donal Logue are wonderful as the cop duo who always seem close to hand. Funny that, if you need a cop ? it?s those two that turn up. Bit unlikely in a big city, like Los Angeles, huh?

?Confidence? has a lot of charm on the surface, it looks good, it?s fast-moving, and you enjoy watching it, and you even start trying to work out who?s conning who, and go along with the whole thing.

But? there are some gaps in the plot, or, to be charitable, some things which aren?t adequately explained, so it left me feeling a bit cheated. The acting?s good, but on the whole the movie doesn?t really hold up to close scrutiny and in the end it?s a fairly standard thriller.
One that you?ll have forgotten most of the story of within a few months.
That doesn't mean it's not worth seeing now - just don't expect great things of it.

98 minutes long

Summary: