Matchstick Men Review:

Phobia-addled con man Roy (Cage) and his protégé Frank (Rockwell) are on the verge of pulling off one their greatest scams, an ambitious ‘long con’ as they call it. But Roy’s ordered life is thrown into disarray when he discovers he has a 14 year old daughter, Angela (Lohman), who seems intent to get to know her long lost father.

Typically Ridley Scott’s little dalliances with the types of movies he’d never normally make, such as GI Jane or Black Hawk Down, usually form blips on an otherwise perfect filmmaking CV but Matchstick Men goes against this rule and will hopefully be the sort of thing the cigar chomping director returns to. It’s a difficult film to pin down, at times a slick heist movie, then a comedic character study, often a touching family drama but you are never allowed to settle on a particular genre as the story swiftly carries you along, your foot tapping to the swinging Sinatra soundtrack.

In order to prevent it from becoming too grandiose the character roster is kept to a minimum with the emphasis on the fact you have to like these guys despite their shady professions. Luckily you’ve got Cage leading the way with a storming performance as the compulsive Roy who keeps his flat meticulously clean, opens a door three times before going through it and has more tics than Stephen Hawking’s A-Level physics exam but he’s never annoying or overplayed, in fact, as always, Cage makes it look easy. Matchstick Men is a must see double bill along with Adaptation, the guy can play anyone, anytime, anywhere, his comedy timing is perfect and he always has the hang-dog look of a man who’s lived the character. But even the mighty Cage can be challenged and in this movie it comes from the unlikeliest of sources, Alison Lohman, who, would you believe, is 22. Like most you’ll probably balk at the mention of this being about a 14 year old kid, what annoying little brat have they dug up this time you cry but she is simply a revelation, instantly cute, lovable and with more acting ability than most of Hollywood’s pin-up stars. Of course the supporting players are expertly written and none makes more of his brief character than Rockwell. Borrowing the wardrobe from his starring role in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind he improvs a memorable turn as the slobbish ‘anti-Roy’ despite only appearing in a handful of scenes. This is an ensemble that exudes effortlessness, the cool and the cooler.

Weaving it all together is Scott who pulls a few camera tricks out of the bag but overall takes a step back to concentrate on the slick sheen the movie has and bringing to life a modest, accessible script from the Griffin brothers who penned the equally stylish Ocean’s 11. It’s the sort of movie that should find an audience on the smaller screen, a relaxing feel-good yarn and something you’d get hopelessly caught up in if you came across it late at night on the telly. There was a lot of hooh-hah during the Oscars when the Academy began to recognize comedies and nominated Johnny Depp but Matchstick Men was criminally overlooked. The film itself is small yet flawless and the acting is of such high quality that it doesn’t draw attention because it is so seamless. I’m sure if Cage claimed to have based it on some famous rock star it would’ve been a different story.

Picture & Audio

An exemplary 2.40:1 widescreen transfer that remains true to Scott’s dazzling visual style.

The audio is pitch perfect 5.1 Dolby Digital and while it could also be used as the best swing album in the world…ever it also succeeds in surrounding you with the whizzing, distracting modern world that Roy finds himself at odds with.

Extras

The documentary is split into 3 segments, sensibly pre-production, production and post-production. In total they run in at about an hour and a quarter with the post one being shortest. It provides an amazing insight into the process of filmmaking and would probably be a lot more useful than most media courses. Shot with a camcorder it gets right in with the main crew members and, most impressively, focuses on Scott himself though he only flies into one of his famed rages once when a camera jams. The documentary captures the briskness of the project and Scott approached in exactly that way, something he could get done while waiting for Tripoli to get going. After scouting locations they jump straight into filming over two months where Scott maintains the films spontaneity by keeping things moving and getting shots in the can after only a few takes. It’s when they get to post that they encounter some minor problems. Hans Zimmer is in some confusion over the scoring and there are problems when they show it to the money men about whether it’s purely a comedy or not. So it’s off to the test screening to let the public decide.

It’s not made clear but the film’s commentary has two tracks cut together, one by Scott and the other by Ted and Nicholas Griffin. While this usually is a frustrating way to do it here it is actually expertly done so there’s never a quiet moment and it’s packed with information. Scott is wonderfully open about the project and clearly loves the movie, the sort of thing he’ll be doing again. His grasp of characters is immense and he goes into massive back stories about them, he did his homework before getting to the set. He also talks about the various cuts in the movie and how one version left more clues about the twist ending. The Griffin’s on the other hand discuss adapting the book and the various details the actors added. Here it’s Ted who does most of the gabbing but he is also co-producer so we’ll let him off.

You also get the trailer. It’s a long one though!

It may not look like much on paper but the Matchstick Men DVD certainly provides you with an exhaustive look at the making of the movie.

A drama? A comedy? A crime caper? Who knows except it’s a damn fine movie made doubly good by a professional DVD.

Rich Badley

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