How long has it been since Will Smith was a bankable star? In my eyes he hasn't been particularly interesting since Hancock, maybe. After Earth and other questionable choices show that Smith needs a hit to remind us why we loved him in the first place. Cue "heist" movie Focus, starring himself and Margot Robbie. Will it be the hit he needs to alleviate our fears about his casting in Suicide Squad or are we in for yet another Ocean's knock off? 聽Here's Geek Ireland's review of Focus.
Focus follows con man and all around charming fellow, Nicky (Will Smith). Nicky has been in the game a long time, he will state this several times, and he knows potential when he sees it. Enter Jess (Margot Robbie), who is an up-and-coming con woman herself, unfortunately she has to be one of the most gullible con men I've ever seen. So many tricks are pulled on her in Focus and it gets a bit ridiculous as it goes on. Jess joins Nicky as a kind of intern, she hopes to learn the skills to up her game and maybe get rich along the way. She joins his team and both the audience and her learn a horrifying factoid; That eighty per cent of the people around you are con men and can perfectly coordinate a theft on your person in an incredibly well choreographed "dance". It's impressive but then gets unrealistic. This many con men outnumbering the "norms"? I don't buy it.
What sells Focus is the chemistry between Robbie and Smith who have a wonderful back and forth. Their scenes together are great and both are having a lot of fun. Jess is a fun and naive character and a great pair of eyes for the audience to help introduce us to this world shown to us by Nicky. Nicky is charming and sadly is the usual character Will Smith is given. He's given all the smooth lines, he's got a little chip on his shoulder that is never fully explored to full effect and he's got everything mapped out so he always comes out on top. He's every Will Smith character ever, so Nicky as a character is nothing new.
The story does keep you interested, though there is a lull in the middle of Focus which drags out some of the weaker elements of 聽the movie. Starting on a high with a fun introduction to the world of the "con" then ending on a reasonable climax, Focus is a fun time at the cinema. I suppose that's the main element of Focus, it's fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously, the acting is decent, Will Smith may be doing nothing new but what he is聽doing has been honed down to a fine science. Margot Robbie is great, adding a refreshing presence that is very much appreciated. The soundtrack is the same kind of stuff Ocean's Eleven made famous all those years ago, which means it's forgettable. The worst issue with Focus is that it has the potential to be something great, and instead it ends up being just "fun". It fell into so many pitfalls that these kind of movies fall into when you have a jaded con man who meets the woman that matches him, maybe not in skill, but in heart.
With some fun dialogue, fun characters and fun twists, Focus聽is a fun movie to head along to this weekend, just don't expect anything original.
