Focus

Directed by Glenn Ficarra (2015)

In line with the previous movie entry, Focus was bad despite a presence from Will Smith and Margot Robbie. Smith plays a successful conman, leader of a group that performs elaborate cons, and Robbie is his student. Of course they fall in love, and the romance is weird and I didn't quite understand why either liked the other so much. The cons are so elaborate it's kind of silly, and the explanation monologues ooze with pseudo-intellectualism. In a cavalier attempt to keep the audience on its toes, the movie inserts a "twist" every chance it gets. There's also a huge plot event in which the reasons behind are never made clear. Of course my issues with the movie are exactly that, mine, but this is surely a movie I would leave out on a recommendation list.

(12/19/21)