'Focus' seems more like a travelogue than a caper film

Co-directors and co-writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa mistake glamorousness for inspiration; whenever the story flags, they pile on the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous stuff. 

|
Frank Masi/Warner Bros. Pictures/AP
'Focus' stars Will Smith (l.) and Margot Robbie (r.).

I’m a sucker for movies about con men, which means, I suppose, that I’m a sucker, since most of them are subpar. “Focus,” starring a somnolent Will Smith as a world-class grifter, features beautiful locations and even more beautiful people but seems more like a travelogue than a caper film. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who co-wrote and codirected, mistake glamorousness for inspiration; whenever the story flags, they pile on the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous stuff. 
Smith’s Nicky hooks up early with novice Jess (Margot Robbie), who, in a sequence in New Orleans’ French Quarter, proves her mettle as a first-class grifter. This is the kind of movie where we’re not supposed to know at any time who is playing whom, but since the characterizations are glossy and paper-thin, it’s difficult to get worked up about who gets fleeced. 
Scenery-wise, the best sequences are set in Buenos Aires in the world of Formula 1 auto racing. But the best scene comes earlier on, when Nicky, in a luxury suite at the Superdome, extends a losing streak wager with a billionaire Chinese businessman (a very funny B.D. Wong). Is Nicky being played or is he the player? If you think you already know the answer to that question, you don’t really need to see the movie. Grade: C+ (Rated R for language, some sexual content and brief violence.)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'Focus' seems more like a travelogue than a caper film
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2015/0227/Focus-seems-more-like-a-travelogue-than-a-caper-film
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe