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Recent years have seen Nicolas Cage starring in several flamboyant action movies, but this versatile actor generally does his best work when interpreting complex, eccentric characters. In Matchstick Men, he plays a real doozy: con man Roy Waller, one of the slickest in the game, despite the fact that he’s a walking bundle of obsessive-compulsive disorders. He doesn’t like surprises, so you can imagine his initial reaction to Angela (Alison Lohman), the teenage girl who shows up on his doorstep and claims to be his daughter. Fatherhood is tough on most men, but it threatens to make a basket case of Roy, whose partner (Sam Rockwell) has just set up a potentially big score. Bad timing or what? The complications come fast and furious in this delightful film, sharply written by Nicholas Griffin and directed with élan by Ridley Scott, who reveals a heretofore unsuspected affinity for comedy. Witty lines and clever situations abound, with the action building to a surprising climax; but it’s the cast that really puts Matchstick Men over. Cage's performance is nothing short of remarkable. He uses neurotic tics to punctuate laugh lines and darts about with enough nervous energy to power a football stadium, yet he manages to display tenderness and compassion. Lohman holds her own in scenes with Cage, radiating a charming, winsome quality while investing her character with just the right amount of edge. Rockwell also shines as Cage's glib, smarmy partner, and Bruce McGill is excellent as the unwitting mark. They work together seamlessly under Scott's nuanced direction, and the result is an unusually satisfying film teeming with memorable moments. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Ridley Scott directs the crime comedy Matchstick Men, based on the novel of the same name by Eric Garcia. Neurotic con man Roy (Nicolas Cage) suffers from several emotional problems, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. He and his partner Frank (Sam Rockwell) swindle people out of money by posing as money collectors who promise things like tax refunds, package vacations, and other fabulous prizes (which they never get). Frank wants to pull a really big job, but Roy is too consumed with fear and panic attacks to join him. Only cigarettes and his trusty illegal prescription drugs seem to keep him going. When Roy finds himself in desperate need of more pills, he is forced to see legitimate psychotherapist Dr. Klein (Bruce Altman). Roy ends up talking about his emotional damage from a troubled marriage and divorce, which results in the discovery of a child whom he has never met. Dr. Klein suggests that he spend a weekend with the kid, so in walks teenaged Angela (played by twentysomething Alison Lohman). Reluctant to develop his role as a father, Roy also gets heavily involved in Frank's ambitious swindle. Andrea LeVasseur

Product Details

• UPC: 883929085125
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed, Repackaged
• Time: 1:56:00
• Sales Rank: 5,244

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