#Focus will smith movie#

Nicky allows himself to be seduced, recognizing how the arrangement might serve his own ends, but it catches up with him in the second half, when Jess resurfaces in Buenos Aires, this time on the arm of his rich new boss, racing mogul Rafael Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro), whoвЂ™s flaunting a fuel-burning formula that everyone else in the industry wants.Д®arly on, Nicky expressly tells Jess that thereвЂ™s no such thing as вЂњthe big con,вЂќ or the kind of operation so lucrative that everyone can retire and live like kings. Jess is desperate to rise above fleecing rich guys for their spare change, so she shimmies up to Nicky and tries to work her way onto his crew, which has gathered in New Orleans, to skim the crowds gathered for a championship game (composed of made-up teams in a fictional football league).

Suffice it to say that both Nicky and Jess are operating on more levels than either of them lets on, and that just when things appear to be cooling down, theyвЂ™re really just heating up. вЂњFocusвЂќ cleanly divides into two parts, and both work best the less one knows about whoвЂ™s playing whom. who lensed their debut, to give this pic its sultry look. Three for three in the surprise-chemistry department,В Ficarra and Requa more or less confirm their ability to generate sizzle from thin air, reteamingВ withВ Xavier Grobet, the d.p. While Smith and Robbie build the dynamicВ through flirtatious badinage - best exemplified by a touchy-feely lesson in using distraction to separate a mark from his or her valuables -В the production team reinforces the mood through a mix of sleek tones and sensual textures. ThatвЂ™s the tone theyвЂ™re going for here: Elmore Leonard novel meets Sharper Image catalog.

The whole encounter suggests that writer-director duo Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have studied not onlyВ how con men operate, but also the best of the genre (having already supplied one ofВ itsВ looniest entries with вЂњI Love You Phillip MorrisвЂќ), channeling the sultry, smooth-jazz vibe of Steven SoderberghвЂ™s вЂњOut of SightвЂќ from the opening scene. He notices her boosting watches from married men at the hotel bar, so heвЂ™s less than surprised when she lures him upstairs and attempts to pull a classic badger game, in which anВ accomplice claiming to be her husband bursts in to find themВ in flagrante delicto.

#Focus will smith movie#

InВ the two decades since Jerry Bruckheimer got his hooks in him with вЂњBad Boys,вЂќ Smith has mostly led with his swagger, whereas here, he dips into theВ vulnerability that served him well in riskier outings, such as вЂњThe Pursuit of Happyness.вЂќВ With вЂњFocus,вЂќ the whole movie hinges on whether we believe heвЂ™s met his match: Can one woman possibly break through and tame him?ДЇrom the moment SmithвЂ™s Nicky SpurgeonВ first sets eyes on Jess (вЂњThe Wolf of Wall StreetвЂќ stunner Margot Robbie), he never misses a beat as heВ quickly sizes up her scam. Some stars build their entire careers on it, while others hardly ever let love factor into their work (as those developing material for Dwayne Johnson know, вЂњthe Rock donвЂ™t do romance,вЂќ for example). With the rare exception of 2005вЂ™s hitВ вЂњHitch,вЂќ romance hasnвЂ™t really beenВ SmithвЂ™s bag. But what to do when the streak falters? Will Smith made his film debut as a high-society scammer in вЂњSix Degrees of Separation,вЂќ and now, a bit more than 21 years later, heвЂ™s back at the hustle in вЂњ Focus,вЂќ a sexy sleight-of-hand caper thatВ feels small-time by the tentpole kingвЂ™s standards, though a solid opening ought to prove SmithвЂ™sВ ongoing drawing power - and that there is lifeВ after the commercial debacle of 2013вЂ™s вЂњAfter Earth.вЂќВ Lithely directed by the duo responsible forВ вЂњCrazy, Stupid, Love,вЂќ this suave if quick-to-dissipateВ divertissement shrewdly recasts the starВ in theВ George Clooney mold -В a good look for the next stage of SmithвЂ™s career. Every movie star is a con artist of sorts, seducing audiences into forking over millions by adopting a character bigger than him- or herself.