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"Confidence’ shows true grift

Kimberly Nicoletti

If “Confidence,” like Dan says, is a poor man’s “Ocean’s Eleven,” I’m all the poorer for seeing it.

From the first con-man bang, it lost its bling (whatever a bling is … and that’s exactly how I felt about the movie – “Whatever”). It didn’t grab me. It didn’t engage me. I didn’t care about the characters. I didn’t care enough to follow the supposedly clever twists and turns of cons and counter-cons. And no, I don’t need Prozac for my apathy. Maybe if I were watching Brad Pitt, I would have cared a little more.

The only hook in the movie was the gritty scenes in Winston “The King’s” nightclub. Dustin Hoffman both repelled and intrigued me with his bisexual, perverted tendencies. His character was the only one who had enough energy to make me feel like there was something at stake. But he didn’t play a big enough role to make me dive into the plot.



Part of the lack of urgency and suspense could have stemmed from director James Foley’s decision to have con man Jake Vig (Edward Burns) narrate the story in a series of flashbacks – while he patiently explained to the man holding him at gunpoint the ins and outs of his brilliant con.

In the end, I appreciated the genius of the complicated con, but come on, screenwriters can see every move in the chess game when they’re the only players and they have months to strategize. If only they had put half the effort into developing their characters.


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