This loose comedy is a far cry from the action and spectacle that is usually offered by director Ridley Scott. This film is crisp and clean with a littleness over it that we usually find with smaller projects. Here, Scott delivers a film that is visibly made with fun and enthusiasm and a solid cast to back it up.

Matchstick Men tells the story of two con artists that make their living by taking advantage of the greed of others. Nicolas Cage plays a self-proclaimed master in this dubious trade, armed with a couple of tics and neuroses and with Sam Rockwell as his partner in crime. Here most people might cringe at the idea of an overacting Cage churning out a whole repertoire of over-the-top twitches and spasms. Luckily, he doesn’t overdo it. We learn that his neuroses are more psychosomatic of nature and relate to his poor state of well-being. One might deem some of his different neuroses as illogic (he is terrified of dust and all things dirty, but is at the same time a heavy smoker with cigarette butts everywhere. He also isn’t consequent in his door tic).

Through his newly-found shrink he learns that his ex-wife has raised a daughter that he didn’t know of. After meeting his daughter -carefully avoiding his ex-wife- he really blossoms, which makes him almost forget his neuroses. He decides to pull off one last big scam with his associate, so that he can concentrate on leading a respectful life in order to gain joined custody of his newly-found daughter. I leave the rest untold to prevent spoilers.

As mentioned before, Cage plays a good role and the rest of the cast performs very adequately. I found it a pity that Sam Rockwell’s role was quite modest and he was clearly held back in his performance. A great role was for Alison Lohman, who played Cage’s daughter. She convincingly plays a 14-year old girl, but surprisingly enough Lohman turned 22 during the shoot of the movie. The movie is very enjoyable to watch, however after viewing it didn’t really stick with me. This may be explained by the fact that it seems unable to choose between the different elements which are introduced (or to really fuse them together): the scam business, the neurotic behaviour, the father – daughter relationship and the fact that it is a comedy without being really hilarious.

Because of this indecisiveness the movie tends to give an unsatisfying feeling at the end, which is further emphasised by the conclusion of the story. Still a very nice movie and one of the better roles that we have seen from Cage these last times. Rated ***1/2 out of 5.

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