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As Matchstick Men opens, the audience meets Roy (Cage),
a man with a lot of emotional baggage. Fourteen years ago,
under cloudy circumstances, he broke up with a woman who was
pregnant with a child that might have been his. He’s never
really gotten over it, but has developed two things by way
of compensation: obsessive-compulsive disorder and a fabulously
successful career as a con man. So Roy has a very fancy house
that he is always cleaning. Anytime someone rings his bell,
he has to open the door three times, then he asks the guest
to remove his or her shoes. Roy is a compulsive smoker, which
certainly amplifies his generally high-strung vibe, but does
seem like a less than sterile habit. And he’s afraid to go
outdoors.
Otherwise, life is not too bad. The two flim-flam men have
a good gig going, but then Roy loses his medicine and can’t
hold it together well enough to perform. In seeing a new therapist
(Altman) for a prescription, he is encouraged to inquire
into the events of his past. Into Roy’s life comes Angela
(Lohman), the 14-year-old daughter he has never previously
met.
And I’m sure you saw this one coming: Angela’s crazy 14-year-old
ways really disrupt Roy’s buttoned-down routine. At the same
time, Roy begins to feel protective of her and thinks maybe
he should get out of his dangerous business. Frank is pushing
for the “big score,” and Angela appears to have an inclination
and talent for the grift.
That’s the setup. A lot of threads there, I know. But there’s
not much more to say about Matchstick Men. There are
better movies, but there worse ones, too. The performances
are all solid but none are terribly inspired. The plot features
a neat little twist near the end, and it’s, you know, kind
of cool, but no “Keyser Sose.”
Matchstick Men is a mildly enjoyable diversion, but
even on that level could have been more than it is. The film
cannot decide what it wants to be. Is Roy’s illness, for example,
funny? Or is it sad? Is the film a light-hearted con movie,
a chronicle of father/daughter reconciliation, a wacky fish-out-of-water
comedy about a 14-year-old girl living in such an unwholesome
environment, or an examination of life with OCD? There’s no
law against doing all of these things simultaneously, but
only a really great movie could juggle so many disparate balls
at once. Matchstick Men, however, is not a really great
movie—only a big studio late-summer release with a bit too
much ambition. The film develops each of its angles in a half-assed
way, phoning in just enough energy to any one storyline so
there’s none left over for another. Matchstick Men has
an interesting premise, but never really gets off the ground.
—Mike O’Connor
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While we would never encourage anyone to destroy a video... 
