Matchstick Men 2003

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: [An] engaging, funny and touching film. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Although there are moments in the film when his visual style threatens to overwhelm the story, Scott keeps the stylistic flourishes to a minimum. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: ... it's just a joy to see a film like this. Read more

Chicago Tribune: If Matchstick Men isn't the classic con The Sting was, it still empties our pockets with the fast hands of a master. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: An emotional shell game that leaves you feeling cheated even though, on the surface at least, everyone is a winner. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: [Matchstick Men] is what you get when a bunch of talented pros get together to make a movie without worrying about Oscar nominations, career moves and 10-Best lists. They're just having fun, and chances are, you will, too. Read more

Renee Graham, Boston Globe: Rockwell is a hoot as Frankie, but during the stretches when he's not on screen, the air goes out of the film. Read more

Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times: The film fizzles rather than fizzes. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: An engaging spin on the reliable crime subgenre of lovable thieves. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: A delightful dark comedy. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: From its jazz-inflected score to the screenplay's switchbacks of possibility and impending disaster, the movie seduces. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: There's one other way to approach Matchstick Men, and that's to forget all about neuroses and con artistry and admire the movie instead for the unsettlingly beautiful directorial study in geographical mood that it is. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Fleeced again. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: For director Ridley Scott, Matchstick Men represents a step back in both size and results. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Only the most gullible of viewers will likely be duped by the painfully et cetera who's-conning -whom antics or the mounds of forced sentimentality under which they're ill-disguised. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Unusually intimate outing for director Ridley Scott glides along a slick, shiny, Hollywood-style surface. But the actors keep it real throughout. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: There's only one smart con in Matchstick Men. And it's the way it cleverly parts us from our Alexander Hamiltons without ever truly delivering what it's promised. Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: A well-crafted grifter tale with heart. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: A thoroughly absorbing hour and 56 minutes of entertainment. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Matchstick Men is really two movies brilliantly spliced into one, each enriching the other. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The screenplay for Matchstick Men is an achievement of Oscar calibre -- so absorbing that whenever it cuts away from 'the plot,' there is another, better plot to cut to. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Matchstick Men isn't even remotely intricate; it's not even particularly interesting. Read more

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: A clever look at con artists and their games of deception. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: It's a blah little exploitation picture that thinks it's a deep humanist parable. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The performances are terrific. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Uneven but oddly likeable. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Ridley Scott lets us enjoy the satisfying clicks and whirrs of the well-oiled celluloid con trick, while leaving plenty of head room for Cage to twitch and fret in. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A well-acted and intriguing exploration of dishonesty in its varied forms, leavened with a dry comic touch. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Matchstick Men never really casts off its cloak of artificiality and calculation; its pleasures are minor, however distracting they may be. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Artful distraction is the key to a successful con, and Cage does more than that for Matchstick Men, dazzling the viewer with a veritable ob-com sonata based on a plethora of tics, hitches, stutters, twitches, and obscure rituals. Read more