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I had mixed average expectations for this film but it blew me away completely far more than I expected. It was a very powerful film and the amount of power that was in the film surprised me a lot too. Matchstick Men is a powerful film that was almost like a thriller. What I reall love about this film is it's a life-teaching film like being a con man/woman or being a victim of being conned. Matchstick Men is a film that does have quite a complex dialogue but it kept me glued to the screen all the way through it. Matchstick Men becomes more and more personal as it goes on because it teaches how to fix a man's relationship with his daughter especially if he is either a bad father or an inexperienced father.
Nicolas Cage is a crap actor now but Matchstick Men is a film that proves he used to be absolutely fantastic. Adaptation, The Weather Man and Leaving Las Vegas are others that proved him as a fantastic actor. His acting as Roy made me think "you bastard!" for being a con artist yet I felt sorry for him too because of his medical condition and with his relationship with his daughter Angela. Sam Rockwell is an actor I am really starting to like. He was awesome as Frank. Frank is an very kind and helpful protége to Roy but all isn't all as it seems. It's weird seeing Sam play a character like Frank only when 4 years before he was in The Green Mile playing William 'Wild Bill' Wharton. How in the hell is Alison Lohman 23 years old in real life to play a 14 year old? She really does look like a young kid in this one. Her age fooled me in this film because I didn't know she was 23 before I saw this film but when I looked about her on Wikipedia, I couldn't believe her age! However, about her performance as Angela: she was absolutely fantastic! It is by far the best performance of the film. She reminds me a lot of Emma Watson. 2003 was a great breakthrough year for Alison not only for Matchstick Men but for starring in Tim Burton's masterpiece Big Fish. Angela is a very beautiful character but there is something about her that is a bit off and can be quite threatening at times especially when she's helping her father Roy con people.
Ridley Scott goes to a different kind of film after his epics Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. He directs this really well in a very new kind of way. Ridley Scott is a pure genius at this film. He directs this film like no other film he has ever done which at first became a bit of a risk to do a film like this. After watching this, I found it to be a great success from Ridley Scott and he has now achieved one of his best films.
Overall, Matchstick Men is one of the best films of 2003 and that was an awesome year for film. It is Ridley Scott's third best film after Gladiator and Thelma & Louise. Matchstick Men has one of the most underrated yet one of the best, most powerful and most unexpected film plot twists of all time that will leave you totally shocked at the end. It is a masterpiece that I could watch a lot! Love it!
9/10
