3.5 stars. Rated R, for profanity, sensuality and brief violence
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 2.27.15
Heist flicks rely on two
essential ingredients: a tight, logical script that holds together even as the narrative
veers in unexpectedly twisty directions; and — just as important — a sharply
constructed cast of characters, played by actors who approach this material
with sincerity and conviction.
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| Having pulled off yet another successful con, Nicky (Will Smith) and Jess (Margot Robbie) realize that they make a pretty good team. But their increasing fondness for each other, on a personal level, threatens the objectivity that's essential in their nefarious line of work... |
In other words, actors who don’t preen
from one scene to the next, undercutting the tension and suspense we desire
from the genre.
Ideal scripts, in turn, need to
be clever on three levels: the core storyline — in other words, the actual
caper(s) — which should be intriguing, unusual and introduced with zest; the
inevitable “unexpected” glitch that complicates matters, and which the
filmmakers usually expect us viewers to anticipate; and, finally, the genuinely
surprising second twist, which nobody sees coming, and which leaves us nodding
with admiration.
Hats off to the writing/directing
team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, then, because Focus delivers on all
counts. Heist thrillers are one of my favorite genres; I’ve seen scores of good
ones, and therefore usually anticipate all manner of revelations, hiccups and
gotchas.
And yet Ficarra and Requa startled
me, with their devious, eleventh-hour eyebrow-raiser. Well done.
On top of which, they’ve
assembled ideal talent, starting with smooth-as-silk Will Smith, whose every
word, deed, gesture and wary expression denote career larceny. He’s perfectly
cast as the sophisticated Nicky Spurgeon, a seasoned master of misdirection,
who deploys and unerringly supervises a veritable squadron of sharps,
pick-pockets and thieves at crowded, high-profile events such as conventions
and parades.
Smith is well matched by Margot
Robbie’s Jess Barrett, a frisky blonde with a sensual wiggle, who worms her way
into Nicky’s crew with the sort of breathy admiration and flirty innocence that
Marilyn Monroe perfected, back in the day. Robbie will be remembered as Leonaro
DiCaprio’s seductively controlling wife in 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street, and let’s just say that she’s equally alluring here.
And just as unpredictable.
Indeed, Jess wears “devious” like the slinky, skin-tight dresses into which Robbie
gets poured; we can’t help wondering about her end game, from the moment she
catches Nicky’s attention.
But, then, we also don’t expect
him to be candid with her, so the question revolves around who’s likely to get
played, and how quickly.
Meanwhile, Smith and Robbie —
both dripping with sensual savoir-faire — circle each other with a playfully
erotic grace that wholly eluded the characters in Fifty Shades of Grey.
