Matchstick Men

  Blender Dumbass
September 24, 2023

👁 21

It is very sad when a movie barely scratches to earn back the money that it was cost to make. Sometimes the movie sucks and that explains everything. But sometimes we get films like Tenet, Blade Runner 2049 and Hugo. Wonderful amazing movies that failed to be the sensations they deserve to be. You know, the kind of feeling today's kids have when they type "This should have got more views" in the comments on YouTube.

Today I saw a movie called "Matchstick Men" made with $62 million which grossed only $65 million, but in my opinion should have made more. I mean we have a director of Alien and Gladiator - Ridley Scott. The lead actor is the amazingly over the top - Nicolas Cage. And a wonderful script by Ted Griffin who wrote Ocean's Eleven. And like Oceans Eleven it's a comedy about con artists.

But perhaps the movie has a flaw. While Ocean's Eleven was trying to wow the audience with the immensity of the heist. Matchstick Men is a lot more personal and a lot more character driven. Perhaps people are afraid to pay for that kind of stuff thinking it will be dull. How wrong they all are!

The premise of the movie is kind of weird. Because on one hand is a kind of mix between Oceans Twelve ( a less grandiose, more character driven movie about con artists ) and Wasabi ( a French movie about a tough French police man who finds out he has a teenage daughter in Japan ). But from a different stand point, it almost feels like a movie Christopher Nolan would do. But perhaps he would do it not chronologically.

It's a highly subjective piece of psychological film-making. There are no Spilbergian intricate camera moves. It's Ridley Scott. Simple shots that are to the point, with just enough eye candy for you to feel like the movie is beautiful. But non-the less the movie is about a guy with an extreme Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And the film is really putting you in the shoes of the character. Early on there is a scene where a window is being opened and the main character is being attacked with a sensation of germs. The light becomes too bright. The contrast too contrasty and you feel what he must feel like at this point. Add to it the over the top nature of Nick Cage and you get something very cool indeed.

Let's talk about Nick Cage and the casting in this movie. I mean, he is the perfect dude to play a character with OCD. Especially when things go wrong and he becomes more insane as a result. Or the choice to cast the 24 year old ( at the time ) Alison Lohman as a 14 year old girl. On the surface that would not work. But she has just the right type of face to sell it.

Spoiler

And the casting is kind of perfect if you think about it. At first I was mad because Ridley tried to get away with casting a 24 year old as a 14 year old. But then the twist happened. And it turns out that not only audiences were fooled. The main character was fooled. And she is not a 14 year old at all. What a genius casting decision. There are only a handful of actors that can play a role so far outside of their own age so convincingly. But for it to actually make sense in the story? Double-amazing!

Also the movie is not shy from showing process. I know a lot of movies that do a lazy writing trick to setup impossible odds and then just cut to it being solved as a kind of joke. Every movie does it to an extend. If it's not really important to the overall story, that's totally fine to do. The ending of Scott Pilgrim vs The World did it in a good way. But I see sometimes it's done to main events. And it pisses me off.

There is a scene with a psychologist where I was expecting a cut like this. But no, the camera held in. The conversation happened. And the process of the doctor was actually shown. When I watch a movie I like to see the characters try to solve their problems. Not necessarily have an outcome of a solved problem. But have a process of the problem being tackled. And this movie does it. While others only care about the outcome of the situation. Which is weird. Because the Ocean's trilogy was written by the same author and it has way too many cuts like these.

There is a very interesting dynamic between Nick Cage and Alison Lohman in this movie. At first it felt insanely cringe, but in a good, tension gripping way. Then it kind of reminded me the in between scenes from Leon. Where Leon and Matilda just mess around and play. Which is, even though, not a kind of thing that furthers the plot, is still a kind of emotionally satisfying thing that furthers the character and the world. Like the flying scenes in Avatar or the swimming scenes Avatar 2. It's not the kind of stuff that makes you intrigued necessarily. But it's the kind of stuff that makes you care. Care about the characters. Makes you feel with the characters.

Also the movie is insanely funny. I mean come on. It's Nick Cage with OCD. It's beautiful. If you seen The Martian ( a different movie by Ridley Scott ) you know how funny Ridley can be when he wants to. And this movie delivers. Though in the same time it does it without sacrificing any of the dramatic and tense stuff. Sometimes the humor actually adds to both drama and tension. Which is wild.

Would I recommend you to see it? Hell yeah I would!

Happy Hacking!!!

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