Confidence

Starring: Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman, Andy Garcia, Morris Chestnut,Luis Guzman
Directed by: James Foley
Rating: R
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Box Office: $12,251,640
2003

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After a huge con is pulled off by an intelligent grifter (Edward Burns) and his crew, he believes they are set. However, everything changes when he discovers the man they conned was working for a violent mob boss (Dustin Hoffman) who is quite upset at the money lost. The team (now including Rachel Weisz) must pull off an even bigger scam to pay the money back, or lose their lives in the process.

Review:

Tim: Pure and simple, Confidence is a great movie with a great cast. Dustin Hoffman is eccentrically slimy and malicious. Andy Garcia is vile and nearly unlikeable (despite an incredible performance). Rahcel Weisz plays a slightly different role than usual, although the performance is similar to that in Runaway Jury. Edward Burns sparkles as he holds the entire film together with his charisma and his oozing amounts of confidence.

I normally don't like movies about grifters and con artists, but this one is done both intelligently and cleverly. Burns makes the ideal grifter- he is sneaky enough to be believable but charming enough to be likeable. I really am a huge fan of his- he plays really tough guys and soft romantic guys equally as well. There's no limit to how great this guy can be.

Confidence has several twists and surprises which keep the film interesting and the audience on its toes. It is also narrated by Burns after most of the action has happened, like he's telling us the story, catching us up to the present. This gives the film an interesting feel to it.

I especially enjoyed the ending of the movie. I love films that prove they are smarter than most ordinary films by pulling the rug out from under us in the third act. Confidence is much smarter than many similar con artist movies, and quite frankly, a lot smarter than much of the audience (myself included). This is an enjoyable film and I highly recommend it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: 15 Minutes, She's the One, The Brothers McMullen, The Usual Suspects