Popular reviews

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 7

  For a deeply satisfying movie that hinges on a career-defining performance from one of modern cinema’s most fascinating stars, Ridley Scott’s “Matchstick Men” has a strange way of falling through the cracks. Released to a tepid response in September 2003, this slippery tale of a con artist with a guilty conscience was too much of a tweener to find the audience it deserved, and — much like its twitchy protagonist — was also conflicted about swindling people out of their money. For a major Hollywood film that climaxes with a bare-assed Nicolas Cage running around an L.A. parking garage, its “B” Cinemascore is borderline miraculous.

  Even now, 15 years to the month since its debut, “Matchstick Men” lurks in the…

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  Review by Evan ★★★½ 5

  Another iconic Nic Cage freakout. It was short and subtle, but it was still the work of master. The way he told that man to piss blood was inspirational.

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  Review by Peaceful Stoner ★★★★ 17

  I regret not watching matchstick men before today. This one film in itself is proof that Nic Cage can act and what he is been doing or the directors have been doing all through his life conning him into doing stupid roles except for maybe a few like this one, Lord of War, Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation.

  Any film which has a character with ocd gives a considerable amount of intrigue and likeability. Nic Cage here suffers from a multitude of phobias and he is so believable in his mannerisms. On a whole he just perfectly exectued his role in this film. He attracted so much affection from me even more than Rockwell in this(and I thought he was…

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  Review by Darren ★★★½ 2

  I wish con artist Nicolas Cage was my dad.

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★★ 9

  Action!: The Scott Brothers – How To Get Screwed By Spielberg Twice W/ Ridley Scott

  Talking about a movie that always played on TV, and I only watched the first minutes just to change the channel right away. But there are some films that one is destined to watch sooner or later.

  Boy, I'm disappointed with myself for not paying more attention to it. As it stands, this is a film that a six-year-old may not enjoy much since the imain conflict themselves may appeal more to adults than to children, at least if they have more maturity. I love how the film manages to create this unique synthesis of old and new through its script, direction, and score. Some…

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  Review by Matt Singer ★★½

  In ye olden days of Filmspotting SVU, this would have been a perfect candidate for the annual I Didn’t Get It Award. I wasn’t crazy about this one in theaters back in 2003, and I still don’t love it now. I’m torn between digging every kooky thing Nicolas Cage is doing, and finding the con man plot super predictable from the beginning to the end. In a con movie, if you are far ahead of the characters and their schemes, and they never surprise you at all, that is pretty much fatal. And nothing in Matchstick Men surprised me. Cage’s manic, twitchy energy nearly puts it over the top anyway. But I want another version of this where his character is 50% smarter, and the con itself is 50% more shocking.

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  Review by ❄️ Cammmalot ❄️ ★★★★ 7

  Cinematic Time Capsule
  2003 Marathon - Film #95

  ”You're a con man?”
  “Con artist. Flim flam man, matchstick man, loser. Whatever. Take your pick.”

  A fully tic’d Nic runs scams with the ultra-ham Sam, and together the two of them pull off one of the most under-rated flim-flam films of all-time.

  And best of all, Ridley Scott swindles you into thinking that Ben & Jerry’s actually sells ice cream by the gallon... and that you’re merely watching a fascinating character study. Then with less than twenty minutes left he knocks you upside the head and leaves you reeling as you’re forced to rethink everything you’ve just seen.

  Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to do a little Cherry Garcia research…

  ”Let his greed meet his imagination.

  
  Long Live Physical Media

  Cinematic Time Capsule - 2003 Ranked

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  Review by Jordan Horowitz ★★★★½ 1

  Did not at all remember how good this is. Script and Cage, in particular. And Lohman. But really that script. Wowzers.

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  Review by Jesse Snoddon ★★ 5

  "Well, then, let's get that prescription pad out"

  Professional conman Roy Waller's (Nicolas Cage) world is upended when a 14 year old girl named Angela (Alison Lohman) appears claiming to be his daughter. His lifestyle, mental health issues and working relationship with his partner Frank (Sam Rockwell) are all strained as he struggles to balance a grift he's working on and building a relationship with the daughter he never knew he had. 

  I get what the film is going for here. Artificial relationships can elicit very real feelings and we don't always choose our family. But this didn't work for me at all. It's uncompelling as an intricate con job movie. It's unconvincing as an emotional family drama (mostly because…

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  Review by Kevin206 ★★★★★ 3

  The con. The swindle. The Cage. I doubt this movie is finding many new viewers, I never see it on any must-watch lists. To me, it's a classic, it's when I realized just how amazing Sam Rockwell can be. It came out when people didn't shrug off every Nicolas Cage movie, and it's directed by Ridley Scott. You'd think it'd be hard to ignore, but I fear it has been. A must watch movie.

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  Review by ZaraGwen ★★★★ 1

  I want Sam Rockwell to impregnate me

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  Review by Matt The Snapper ★★★★

  Ocean’s Eleven: The Nicolas Cage Edition