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Review: Focus

★★★☆☆

Three Stars

Focus sees Will Smith do what he does best. It’s certainly a fun film, in which Smith plays Nicky, a charismatic hustler who takes wannabe con artist Jess (Margot Robbie) under his wing, and teaches her his age-old familial trade.

It’s hard to put your finger on the exact genre of this film, possibly placing it somewhere between comedy, drama and even romance. Yet as ever, films like Focus let you enjoy the theatrical glamour of grifting, and allow you to leave your morality at home.

Nicky is a master of the hustling scene. He runs his crime ring with precision, using complex gadgets to steal everything from purses to identities. His team hit the streets of New Orleans, and Jess is a natural, stealing trinkets as well as other people’s attention. Of course Nicky has some morals: he warns them all, “Don’t steal from anyone old or in a wheel chair,” as “that’s just bad luck.” The film takes us from Jess and Nicky’s first meeting in New Orleans, to three years later in Buenos Aires where Jess returns to throw Nicky’s world into a spin. There’s little more we can reveal about a con-caper like Focus without giving too much away.

The script is anything but predictable, almost verging on a little too erratic in parts, and leaving you asking yourself ‘what really just happened’ following the final scene. The film’s writers and directors, Glenn Ficara and John Requa possibly play it a little too safe, and leave us wondering whether a bit more depth could have been added to the characters, especially Nicky, without subtracting from their comedic value. The dangers of the grifting world remain too fleetingly touched upon.

Robbie’s performance is sparkling; it undoubtedly equals Smith’s, and provides the greatest complexity of performance. It proves to be a very strong follow-on for her from The Wolf of Wall Street, impressive for an actress who started her career in Neighbours. Together they are a dynamic duo – who have a fiery chemistry – and carry the plotline brilliantly.

Despite its minor pitfalls, Focus is an exciting though un-challenging film, leaving you wondering who is really conning whom by the end. 

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