Cast: Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Brian Van Holt, Franky G.
Director: James Foley
Producers: Michael Burns, Marc Butan, Michael Ohoven, Michael Paseornek
Screenplay: Doug Jung
Cinematography: Juan Ruiz Anchia
Music: Christophe Beck
U.S. Distributor: Lions Gate Films
The successful completion of this kind of motion picture requires nothing short of confidence on the part of the director. Confidence in the material. Confidence in the actors. And, most importantly for James Foley, confidence in himself. Done haphazardly, this could have turned into a laughably inept endeavor. But, crafted with flair and style, and without pretension, Confidence achieves the modest goal of being an entertaining cinematic adaptation of a B-movie script with an A-list cast.
Movies about con men represent a prolific sub-genre of the thriller. Since the days of film noir, they have been popular. Audiences like the gruff characters with their hard-boiled dialogue, and the rush that comes with puzzling out the path to the truth, even when it leads through a minefield of twists and betrayals. Movies about heists and cons are appreciated because they tap into the part of the psyche that glories in intrigue and deceit.
Most of Confidence is told in flashback. This allows protagonist Jake Vig (Edward Burns) to narrate his tale (and he never seems to stop talking… blah, blah, blah). Jake's tone is self-deprecating. He knows that the con man relies upon three things: human nature, planning, and luck. Even when the first two hold true, failure of the third can ruin everything, and Murphy has stepped squarely in Jake's path. Now, he's spilling his life's story to a guy with a gun in the hope that he can keep breathing for a few more minutes.
Jake is the ringleader of a gang of four. In addition to himself, the group includes the young and brash Miles (Brian Van Holt), the pessimistic Gordo (Paul Giamatti), and the sad-sack Big Al (Louis Lombardi). Things are going fine for these guys until they pick a bad mark. Their $150,000 take turns out to belong to a shady underworld figure named King (Dustin Hoffman), and he wants restitution. After Big Al ends up slumped over his Chinese dinner with a bullet in the head, Jake decides to offer a deal: he'll pull a job for King to cover the debt. King agrees, but with two conditions: he gets to choose the mark and one of his men, Lupus (Franky G.), goes along. To round out the group and add a little sex appeal, Jake picks up Lily (Rachel Weisz), a sultry brunette with "potential." King's chosen victim is his rival, Morgan Price (Robert Forster), and the goal is $5 million in cash. Jake meticulously plans everything, but his carefully orchestrated scheme doesn't take into account a pair of corrupt cops (Donal Logue and Luis Guzman) or the dogged Fed (Andy Garcia) who has been tracking Jake across the country.
Some of Confidence's twists are telegraphed too soon, and others are rather easy to guess, but the film still has a surprise or two in store. The movie may not always be a step ahead of the audience, but it's rarely behind, either. Foley (the director of Glengarry Glen Ross) displays a sure hand. He knows he's making fodder for popcorn munchers, not art, and this recognition fuels his colorful, kinetic style. At times, Foley seems to be having fun by applying a Technicolor-inspired palette to noir material. And he obscures a great many plot holes by keeping things moving.
Edward Burns comes across like a Ben Affleck clone with a little more girth. There's no doubting that Burns plays the cynic better than Affleck, and that comes across here. Rachel Weisz compensates for her acting deficiencies with good looks. Her appearance is that of an early screen siren dragged out of an old movie and deposited here with all of her hair and makeup intact. Dusin Hoffman, on the other hand, looks like he was dragged out of bed. Unkempt and unshaven, he imbues King with a series of annoying mannerisms that make every minute of his limited screen time irritating. Meanwhile, Andy Garcia appears to be running a contest with Hoffman to determine who can appear more disheveled.
Confidence has a high enough entertainment quotient that it's possible to overlook a great many flaws. This brash production doesn't expect a lot more from its audience than undivided attention. It plays by the genre's rules and toys with the viewer's expectations, but it never does anything truly unexpected or amazing. For those who enjoy movies about heists, cons, and double-crosses, this will satisfy. Foley may be directing a script about grifters, but he isn't stealing his audience's money.
© 2003 James Berardinelli