CALEB RAVES REVIEWS "FOCUS"

CALEB RAVES REVIEWS "FOCUS" Director-John Requa Last Looks- don't get it. Just 5 years ago Will Smith was a huge Box Office attraction with films like Hancock and I Am Legend. Not to mention huge successes with movies like Bad Boys, Men In Black and Independence Day in the 90's. For whatever reason once Hollywood's go to guy Will Smith just can't seem to pack theaters the way he once did lately. I have always been a big fan of Smith's as I think he has always been very entertaining and diverse. I also credit Smith for giving Hip Hop a blueprint on how to be successful outside of the genre as he has been able to transcend rap and takeover Hollywood. After "After Earth" I was ready to jump off the Will Smith bandwagon but I heard some great things about "Focus" so I decided to check this one out. Besides you can't hit home runs every time and Smith's talent is still something that can't be denied on the big screen. Breakdown- Nicky (Will Smith) is a professional con artist who takes a young upstart Jess (Margot Robbie) under his wing. After becoming romantically involved with each other Nicky decides to break things off as he feels he can no longer mix business with pleasure. After 3 years Nicky and Jess's paths become intertwined as they both are scheming to con the same man. Nose Candy Nicky- " The more you drink the more you learn."  "You have to die with the lie" "There's a science to getting people to trust you and then you move in for the kill." "I once convinced a man that a warehouse was the federal reserve" "2 kinds of people in this world hammers and nails" "Normal People Lie" Style Points-I love the New Orleans shots in this film being that I live only an hour away Its cool to see familiar places when I am watching a movie. Louisiana is rapidly becoming a go to place for shooting films and It's cool to see the Crescent City being showcased in a positive light. South America was also cool and gave this film some cool international flavor.    I'm also a sucker for bar transitioning into sex scenes. This film did a good job here interjecting Nicky and Jess's journey to the bedroom as they were still drinking at a bar. Then only focusing on the lips before a fade to black before anything got too x rated was well done. Also look out for a sick mirror shot as Jess comes through the door of a boutique. If you miss it the first time they show it twice.    The twist at the end was also cool and unexpected. Yes I do spoil on my blog and I thought it was an interesting way to introduce Nicky's dad into the movie imposing as Rafael's bodyguard. They mentioned him before I believe only once in the film and thought it was a good lesson from teacher to student the dangers of getting emotions involved when gambling for it all. Role Play Will Smith- I think he still has "It" as a leading man in a film. Ever since "6 Degrees of Separation" Smith has always had that intellectual smooth criminal vibe about him. His charisma oozes out of him and slimes all over this film. Good performance all the way around.  Margot Robbie-To be so young and be able to hold her own alongside heavyweights such as Leonardo Dicaprio in "The Wolf of Wall Street" and now alongside Will Smith in this film is incredible. Even though Robbie is much younger then Smith the chemistry felt real as a young woman who was captivated by a man who was the boss of his trade then left her heartbroken after using her to obtain a huge score. To play a con artist you have to be able to switch personalities very quickly and Robbie does so convincingly. One moment she is calmly eating breakfast the next she is hysterically panicking calling for help reporting a heart attack. Also the scene where she pretends to fall for Nicky's charm only to reveal that she was faking and was no longer interested showed how much range Robbie has. It may be too early but Robbie may be the next go to leading lady in Hollywood for the next few years.  Money Shot- I'm going with the reveal where Nicky con's a rich gambler out of all his money at a football game by asking him to pick a number of any player on the field and he would have Jess pick the number of the player he picked. The look on Jess's face was priceless as she picked correctly. What was more funny was the rich mans reaction to being hustled out of huge money, praising Nicky and referring to him as his hero. I especially love the reveal afterwards of how Nicky and his team "planted" that number in the rich mans head making him vulnerable to being robbed. Final Score-I believe the Fresh Prince said it best "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble." All of the greats downfall has always been attributed to a woman. No but for real "Focus" is a story of following your heart even if you have much bigger at stake and the consequences it may bring. There were some really good scenes in this movie. The moments at the football game were really intense and even though you knew it was a con you as the viewer forgot for a split second which is always good. The film was a little short for me and could have went a little more in depth with the art of deception but made up for it by good performances and exciting twists. "Focus" keeps viewers attention throughout and just when you are on the verge of glancing away finds a way to pull you back in.