Profitable as it appears to have been for the folks in Tinseltown, the just-completed summer movie season was, from a film buff’s standpoint, an unmitigated bust. Thankfully, school is back in session, because with “Matchstick Men,” an evocatively honest look at the dishonest lives of two con men, director Ridley Scott delivers a laudable lesson in first-rate filmmaking. And with their solid performances, Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell serve notice that Oscar season has arrived. Roy (Cage) is an obsessive-compulsive, chain-smoking agora-phobe and small-time hustler who, along with his canny, impetuous protégé, Frank (Rockwell), makes a modest living bilking dupes with a bogus sweepstakes scam. But Roy’s neuroses are threatening his criminal productivity, so at Frank’s behest he seeks help from a shrink (Bruce Altman). The therapy sessions ultimately lead Roy to an unsettling revelation: the existence of a 14-year-old daughter named Angela (Alison Lohman).
Father and newfound daughter meet, and before long Angela moves in and turns Roy’s compulsively ordered inner sanctum inside out. Hardly an expert on parenthood, Roy connects with Angela in the only way he knows how — by teaching her the family business. The girl’s a natural, and despite some early misgivings, he begins to embrace the flim-flam foundation upon which his relationship with Angela is built. While Roy indulges his paternal instincts, Frank masterminds an elaborate sting involving a shady businessman (Bruce McGill). When last-minute complications threaten to spoil the big-money con, Roy is forced to enlist Angela’s help in order to pull it off. And then, of course, the real problems begin.
As good or better than its formidable forebears, “Paper Moon” and “The Grifters,” this is a con-man film that succeeds by relegating the con to the background. Scott may be best known for action-driven epics such as “Gladiator” and “Black Hawk Down,” but as he proved with “Thelma & Louise,” he’s got a knack for developing fascinating character sketches. And, boy, does he ever get the most out of his cast. Cage is as good as he’s been in a long time, and Rockwell delivers on the promise he showed in “Confessions of A Dangerous Mind.” Lohman, who shined in “White Oleandor,” joins Evan Rachel Wood (“Thirteen”) at the top of the list of the brightest young actresses in Hollywood. (Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violence, some sexual content and language. Running time: 116 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 12, 2003. Read the original PDF.