Roy Waller needs a new line of work. Independently wealthy as an “antiques dealer” (read: con artist and professional criminal), Roy can’t be comfortable in his success. He’s an obsessive-compulsive whose nervous twitches and penchant for nervously cleaning everything from carpets to clothing don’t exactly inspire confidence in the innocents he’s trying to scam.
Roy’s accomplice Frank, himself itching for a big score from a targeted dupe known as “Chuck with the boat,” sends his frazzled partner to a therapist in the hopes that he can work through his problems in order to better focus on the larcenous tasks at hand.
A regimen of pills and couch sessions follows, until the shrink urges Roy to seek out and establish a relationship with the estranged daughter he abandoned at birth with his ex-wife. Can Roy get rich, get well, and get a family without losing what’s left of his already-addled mind?
“Matchstick Men” not only poses these questions but answers them all satisfactorily, with wit, style and a bittersweet pathos that makes the characters and twists of fate linger in the memory long after the end credits have rolled upward into oblivion.
It’s essentially three well-rendered stories for the price of one: a crime and consequences romp, a touching family dramedy and a biting character study of Roy and his brushes with personal trauma on the road to potential redemption.
The Griffins juggle the interlocking plotlines with precision and easy charm, and they exhibit a subtle touch when it comes time to stress thematic or temporal facets of the story. It’s beautiful, award-worthy work, a bulls-eye rumination on the slippery natures of lies, liars, loves and sudden truths that can explode even the most foolproof master plans.
Any talk of “Matchstick Men”‘s longshots at Oscar glory will also inevitably evoke the name Nicolas Cage. The Academy Award winner adds another eccentric character to his long list of film credits and reassures fans that he can still make gems like this and “Adaptation.” between detours into the Woo/Bruckheimer quagmire of cinematic Hibachi scraps.
Cage has never been better, artfully meshing his usual bag of tics and nutty nuances with the emotional gravitas that earned him worldwide acclaim for his devastating work in “Leaving Las Vegas.”
He sweats, chain smokes and blinks his way into your heart. Better yet, he does it without pandering.
It’s a joy to watch an actor take such huge risks in a performance, and it’s sublime as an audience member to watch Cage repeatedly aim for the fences and hit nothing but homers for nearly two hours.
No matter how dazzling Cage’s central performance, the film would fizzle if the crucial father-daughter dynamic played false. Alison Lohman (so good in last year’s “White Oleander”) positively sparkles opposite Cage. Her Angela is a breezy, naturalistic counterpoint to the lead actor’s carefully modulated freak show, and the two have a playful chemistry that is especially effective as Roy teaches a willing Angela the “ropes” of fine con-artistry. Lohman’s teenage grifter-in-training is sweet, mischievous, clever beyond her years, and never anything less than wholly realistic.
Quality in the details makes this picture more than just another good night at the megaplex. There’s grit in the script pages, passion in the acting, and meticulous care in Scott’s direction.
“Matchstick Men” is smart enough to leave you thrilled, honest enough to make you feel, entertaining enough to please almost any audience. It’s one of this slow movie year’s best offerings so far.