Now, one really must be careful about telling you anything about the plot of this film, because even the slightest slip and I’ll ruin it for you all. Let’s just say that if you go to see this movie, I suggest you remember what is requested of the audience at the end of every performance of the famous long-running play “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie: don’t tell anyone how this ends! But to put it in a nutshell, one site says this is about “A phobic con artist and his protégé [who] are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the con artist’s teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly”.
Nicolas Cage plays the main character of Roy Waller. Roy is agoraphobic with an obsessive, compulsive disorder, which gives him a twitch, a grunt and an obsession with cleanliness. Roy is also a very good con man… or, con artist, as he prefers to be referred to. But Roy prefers the smaller, quick cons that net him the easy, if smaller amounts of money. Still, these have kept him nicely in the lifestyle to which he is obsessed, and career-wise, he seems pretty content. In any case, it seems that this crook knows his limitations, or does he? Cage does a marvelous job with this part, never once falling into clichéd mugging, while consistently keeping up the quirky neurotic behavior. It was a real pleasure watching him on this one, and personally, I think this is Cage’s finest hour, and the most intelligent purchase he ever made (he bought the film rights before the book was published)! There were times when I was so convinced by Cage’s performance that I wondered if the man had any sanity left after he finished filming this one.
Roy’s protégé is Frank Mercer, played by Sam Rockwell (one actor having a great year with both this film and his starring role in “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” plus parts in three other films). Frank is ambitious, energetic and greedy for a “big one”. But he knows he’s learning his stuff from an expert, and despite his partner’s obvious drawbacks, you get the feeling that they almost need each other. I understand from Eric Garcia that this part was “underwritten” in his novel, and that Sam Rockwell and the writers brought much more to the part than Garcia had originally given him. Whatever the screenwriters did here, they did it right and Rockwell knows how to bring just enough enthusiasm to the supporting role as is needed to make the character essential to the movie, without stealing it away from the other actors. Perhaps this is also an achievement of Director Ridley Scott, in keeping this perfect balance throughout the movie.
And then there’s Roy’s teenage daughter Angela, played by the baby-faced Alison Lohman. Angela has grown up with her mother, having heard only bad things about her father all her life. But every young girl needs a daddy, and finding out that the man you thought was either dead or in jail is actually alive and has never been arrested should be enough. But as Angela starts to get more involved in her father’s life, she charms him into teaching her some of his tricks. Alison Lohman fits this part like the last puzzle piece that slides smoothly into place with a confident click, and completes the whole picture. While Lohman was actually a full ten years older than the part she played, you would never once suspect this during the course of the film. This is a rare talent, and I’m glad to see that she’s taken full advantage of it here. And again, had the writing not been spot-on for a 14-year-old, no one would have believed she was really that young.
The script is another shining element in this piece. As film critic Roger Ebert aptly informs us, there are actually three main elements to this story. The first is Roy’s neurosis and how he does or doesn’t cope with it. The next is the plot of two small-time thieves falling into a big-time confidence game. And finally, there’s the story of the fallen-from-grace dad who suddenly gets to know his child. As Ebert mentions, each of these elements could easily make a film all on its own – and we can easily find several examples of successful films that have concentrated on only one of these plots. But to put them all together into one cohesive story is sheer genius. Author Eric Garcia should be very proud that he pulled all three into one novel (what he called “cross-genre” writing) so convincingly that it just begged to be made into a movie. And to top it all off, Ted Griffin (Ocean’s 11) grabbed his brother Nick and together made it into the best script I’ve witnessed in years. The dialog is lively and realistic; the action flows seamlessly from scene to scene; there’s nothing extraneous or superfluous, and; there are no unanswered questions or lose ends when the final credits start to roll. What more could you ask for?
The Special Effects/Cinematography/Sound Track needs to be discussed together since they are joined at the hip in this film. This was especially evident when we were allowed to “experience” Roy’s neurotic reactions as if we were inside his head, seeing the world through his eyes and hearing things through his ears. There were some excellent scenes that were totally transformed by the use of these three elements to perfection. For instance, the static situation of Roy sitting in his car and waiting became totally alive with various camera angles, exaggerated background sounds and accompanying music – you could almost smell the smoke in the car, feel the slight breeze coming in from the window and taste the anxiety of the character. Brilliant! (However, anyone who really and truly hates Frank Sinatra with a passion might not agree with me on this one.)
As for the direction, I’m not a huge fan of Ridley Scott, although I really loved his ‘Thelma & Louise’. However, after all I’ve mentioned already, you might actually think that even a lousy director could direct this film and still come up aces. That may be so, but the most important thing that a director can do is take a bunch of scenes, a bunch of people and a bunch of words and ideas and turn it into a piece of art. That is done in many ways, and one is to make the whole cast and crew into a team. When that happens, the audience can feel it, and Mr. Scott seems to have achieved this in spades here. When you watch this film, you really feel that you are watching something whole and totally complete. I know that may sound a bit strange, but that’s the feeling I get here. Bravo, Mr. Scott!
After all that, the only thing you could ask for a really superior ending as well. Thankfully, this film gives you one that comes extremely close to ruining the whole film – but it doesn’t. It’s actually precisely like the baby bear’s porridge, chair and bed that Goldilocks finds – it’s Just Right. I’d say more, but that might give something away, and I’d hate to ruin it for all you who haven’t seen this film yet. If you haven’t seen this film, I highly recommend it and give this a full five stars out of five!
PS: I didn’t go to see this movie because Nicolas Cage was in it – even though I admire his acting ability a great deal. I also didn’t go to this movie because Ridley Scott produced and directed it. And while watching a film about clever crooks can be fun, I could easily have gone for another film on an even more appealing subject. No, I have to confess that the reason I went to see this movie is because I am acquainted with the man who wrote the novel that this movie is based upon – Eric Garcia. I “met” Eric on a newsgroup several years ago when he was first getting started. Little did we know when his first book was published that he’d get this far, so quickly. So in truth, I went to see this movie to support a friend – not the best reason to see a film, I know – but I’m happy to say that I came out thrilled. Moreover, I happen to know that the bit about Roy’s smoking and eating only Tuna Fish every day because of his OCD is because of me. Yes, when Eric asked us on the group what food we could eat every single day without ever getting tired of it, my reply was “as long as I can still have my cigarettes, I could easily eat tuna fish every day”. My 15 minutes of fame? Not really, but close enough!
