Smith, who has been in idling in a junk heap the last couple of years,
finally opens up and lets himself be cool again. To say it's a relief to see
him have fun in something not titled Men in Black is an understatement.
He plays Nicky Spurgeon, a Yoda of the con man game so slick he could sell ice
to an Eskimo. He could steal the shoes right off your feet, and convince you
barefoot is in style. He's the best, and isn't afraid to let himself be the
mark for a novice grifter named Jess (Robbie), a stunner looking for an easy
score. But Nicky's too smart for that, and in a serious of slickly-edited
encounters he schools her on the basics of the con. She's beautiful and Nicky
knows it; but Jess seems unaware how to use that to her advantage. Of course
sparks begin to fly between the two, but when people live their lives hiding
their emotions, trust is always going to be a problem.
The action soon leads to New Orleans on "Super Bowl" weekend,
where Nicky teaches Jess how things REALLY work in this racket. One of the best
things Focus does is shoot down the myth of the "long con"
that unfortunately rules every heist movie. "It doesn't exist" he
tells her; and Nicky's business is really just that; a business. It's an
extremely illegal, precisely-managed business full of weird gadgets, get rich
quick schemes, and literally dozens of pickpockets on the payroll. The point is
despite the expensive trinkets, famous people, and glamorous locales, being a
con man is work; ugly and dirty. Of course, so is the game of love, and people
who lie as a way of life are notoriously bad at playing it. Sparks fly between
Jess and Nicky, but after a risky (meaning ludicrous), big money scheme pays
off, he kicks her to the curb and they go separate ways.
Focus both embraces and sidesteps the clichés of the genre, and
perhaps the best example of the latter is how the second half plot isn't much of
a con at all. It's a fairly straight-forward romance in which Nicky attempts to
win back Jess' love. Of course, his way of doing that is through a fairly
uninteresting con in Buenos Aires, one involving a race car mogul (Rodrigo
Santoro) who happens to be Nicky's boyfriend. While this part of the film
simply can't carry the same level of energy, the payoff is pretty great and the
ride we're taken on is worth it. Requa and Ficarra use a number of sweet visual
tricks, including one that is suggested in the film's title. One of their
best-looking scenes is a subtle one involving a department store mirror. But
the smartest thing the directors due is simply focus on the stars. It may be
superficial as Hell to talk about how stunning Margot Robbie is, but it's simply
the truth and the filmmakers use everything at their disposal to highlight her.
Her chemistry with Will Smith is off the charts, and he seems motivated like he
hasn't been in years. Gerald McRaney is a hoot as a crusty old bodyguard with a
dislike of anything modern, and Adrian Martinez (the "Discount Double
Check" guy from the commercials) steals the show as Farhad, the team's
sex-obsessed oddball. "You die with the lie", Nicky tells Jess early on, and Focus follows a similar mandate. Ultimately, the film presents itself as more complicated than it actually turns out to be. Some may be disappointed that so many twists and turns are easily figured out (although one was a legitimate surprise), but others will be having so much fun they won't mind playing along.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
