Ridley Scott's a director who likes to very his projects to suit his mood. With this, the pace is downbeat, with a few frantic spills and a battered heart of gold.
The 'Matchstick Men' of the title are Roy (Cage) and Frank (Rockwell), and the term is slang for con-men. Roy is the long-time expert, an ex-alcoholic with an obsessive-compulsive disorder (among others), and no meaningful relationships since his pregnant ex-wife left him fifteen years ago. Frank is his cheerful, slobbish, eager protege. They work a series of small-time, but successful cons and live well enough on the proceeds.
Roy's been grifting for years and has a stash built up and the current small, safe scam suits him fine, but Frank's got a future to plan for and he'd like to try something with a bigger pay-off. The turning point comes when Roy spills his pills and his new shrink won't renew the preseciption until Roy begins to deal with his psychological problems and the unfinished business of his past.
This leads to him making eager/ reluctant contact with the 14 year-old daughter he's only just discovered he had: the charming, troubled, average, alientated teen Angela (Lohman). As they get to know one another and Roy begins to control his conditions he decides to agree with Frank, pull one more big job and retire from the business. Which is where it all starts to go wrong. Angela gets involved, Roy's nervous parental instincts threaten his cool head and the best-laid plans look likely to fall apart at the seams.
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It's not the most original premise and most of the elements of the film we've seen before. The con-men set up, the buddy movie, the estranged family comedy-drama, the neurotic anti-hero. But "Matchstick Men" is well-made and everyone involved gives it their all. Cage's trauma and twitches stay just the right side of theatricality, the supporting acting is perfectly judged (especially good old Bruce McGill as the mark, moving from obnoxious sleazeball to dangerously vicious in the blink of an eye), Scott keeps the pace well-judged, slipping from family drama to thriller seamlessly, with a gentle thread of comedy running through.
The Sinatra-based soundtrack and overall cinematography are excellent, building the mood expertly. The contrast between Roy's sanctuary of a home with its' polished steel surfaces, drawn blinds and immaculate pale grey carpet and the hot, dusty, glaring sunshine outside help to draw us into his way of living.
The plot of the thriller is adequate and no more. If you're looking for the twists, you'll see them in good time. But the film is a deft, heartfelt blend and the action is only a part of the story. The overall show holds together engagingly, if not startlingly well.
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