Focus. Rated MA15+ (strong violence, sex scenes and coarse language). 105 minutes. Written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.
Verdict: Australian-born Margot Robbie stars in a glamorous and entertaining tale of high-stakes deception.
If there is one thing for certain we can take away from the experience of this film, it is that Queensland-born actress Margot Robbie’s Hollywood star is now officially in hyperdrive. Robbie, whose performance as Jordan Belfort’s (Leonardo Di Caprio) wife Naomi Lapaglia was the best thing about The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), delivers another sensational performance – only this time, as the film’s undisputed star.
When con artist Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith), who specialises in high volumes of small crimes such as pickpocketing, meets Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), the pair form an unlikely alliance. She is a relatively inexperienced apprentice con artist, but as the couple become increasingly enamoured with one another, the scale of their cons increases to dazzling, and equally more dangerous, heights.
The key to a successful heist movie is to ensure that we are constantly kept guessing as to who is doing what to who and why. The best examples (of which Jules Dassin’s 1974 masterpiece Rififi is a classic), end up being anxiety-enducing and neurotic affairs, powered by incredible plot twists and turns.
While Focus is far from a perfect example, it certainly offers more than its fair share of entertainment value, helped not only by Robbie’s star-making turn, but also Smith’s charismatic central performance as Nicky. Smith has always been a supremely confident performer on screen, and the sly and slippery Nicky suits him perfectly.
Ficarra and Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love, I Love You Phillip Morris) keep the action simmering at a mostly agreeable pace, while Mexican-born cinematographer Xavier Grobet captures all of the escapades with a fine eye for every super enhanced, slick and glittering detail.
This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.
Verdict: Australian-born Margot Robbie stars in a glamorous and entertaining tale of high-stakes deception.
If there is one thing for certain we can take away from the experience of this film, it is that Queensland-born actress Margot Robbie’s Hollywood star is now officially in hyperdrive. Robbie, whose performance as Jordan Belfort’s (Leonardo Di Caprio) wife Naomi Lapaglia was the best thing about The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), delivers another sensational performance – only this time, as the film’s undisputed star.
When con artist Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith), who specialises in high volumes of small crimes such as pickpocketing, meets Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), the pair form an unlikely alliance. She is a relatively inexperienced apprentice con artist, but as the couple become increasingly enamoured with one another, the scale of their cons increases to dazzling, and equally more dangerous, heights.
The key to a successful heist movie is to ensure that we are constantly kept guessing as to who is doing what to who and why. The best examples (of which Jules Dassin’s 1974 masterpiece Rififi is a classic), end up being anxiety-enducing and neurotic affairs, powered by incredible plot twists and turns.
While Focus is far from a perfect example, it certainly offers more than its fair share of entertainment value, helped not only by Robbie’s star-making turn, but also Smith’s charismatic central performance as Nicky. Smith has always been a supremely confident performer on screen, and the sly and slippery Nicky suits him perfectly.
Ficarra and Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love, I Love You Phillip Morris) keep the action simmering at a mostly agreeable pace, while Mexican-born cinematographer Xavier Grobet captures all of the escapades with a fine eye for every super enhanced, slick and glittering detail.
This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.
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