Release Date:
09/12/2003
Con men dont steal money, they dupe you into giving it to them with false promises. (A lot like Nic Cage in Windtalkers!) Anywho, twitchy, chain-smoking neat freak Roy (Cage) and his protégé partner, Frank (Sam Rockwell), have been living off of trifling cons through a flimsy, phone-operated business partnership. Now Frank is ready for the big one. And, after Frank convinces him to seek counseling for his errant spasms and compulsions, Roy gets on board. But then Roys estranged 14-year-old daughter (played by 24-year-old Alison Lohman) returns. The rest of Matchstick Men involves breaking a big con while parenting a teensomething we all have to deal with eventuallyand a couple of genuine surprises throw more cogs in the already quirky story. Cage delivers ticks and mumbles at both hilarious and suspenseful moments and Lohman giggles enough to make us believe she hasnt yet gotten past training bras. But its Rockwells nonstop antagonizing that steals the laughs and dominates his every scene. Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down) directs the whole thing without pumping in too much action, and everyone goes home happyto an answering machine full of messages from telemarketers and an inbox full of spam.