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Movie Overview
Cast
Nicolas Cage
Sam Rockwell
Alison Lohman
Director
Ridley Scott
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - thematic elements, violence, some sexual content, and language
Matchstick Men (2003)
REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
(1 - 46) of 46
OFCS Rating: 77% Fresh
Page
1
7/10
"Cage has had a lot of good roles in recent memory (
Adaptation
being the highlight), with
Matchstick Men
easily standing proud alongside the pack."
Modamag.com
Brian Orndorf
4/5
"Ridley Scott proves that he can't suppress his frosted side forever, thanks to this spirited and undeniably sweet look at the con game spliced with a family drama -- his best work in years"
Filmcritic.com
Christopher Null
"The fusion of
Matchstick Men
's usual conman life lesson with the father-daughter business is awkward and rushed by film's end. The pieces come together precisely, but sentimentally."
PopMatters
Cynthia Fuchs
75/100
"A cute and silly trifle, a sugary confection that will not linger long on the palate after you’ve left the theatre."
Apollo Guide
Dan Jardine
3.5/4
"Scott and company have approached the film intelligently and have thankfully credited their viewers with having brains as well."
Nitrate Online
Dan Lybarger
3.5/4
"...a film that is genuine, sweet, strongly acted and well written at a time when such qualities are virtually nonexistent at the local multiplex."
Cinemaphile.org
David Keyes
2.5/4
"It's hard to say who exhibits more nervous tics -- star Cage, overdoing it as an agoraphobic con man or director Scott, clearly uncomfortable with small and intimate."
Movie Boeuf
David N. Butterworth
C
"Matchstick Men is directed with confidence by Ridley Scott."
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
2/4
"For the sheer promise it held for so long, and its jarring plunge into maddening mediocrity by the end credits roll,
Matchstick Men
may just rank as the most disappointing film of the year."
TheMovieBoy.com
Dustin Putman
2.5/4
"The film’s con is written in everything from the sometimes tongue-in-cheek dialogue to the retro songs that make the story difficult to place on an actual timeline."
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez
B+
""Nicolas Cage ... gives some more of his best work.""
EricDSnider.com
Eric D. Snider
2/4
"The con artist manipulation is usually far more subtle, unless you’re working with a collaboration of old tricks in an utterly inferior and improbable manner. (See: Confidence). Or Matchstick Men."
eFilmCritic.com
Erik Childress
C+
"The pervading feeling throughout
Matchstick Men
is that it's just subtly
off
."
Film Blather
Eugene Novikov
B-
"Eye-catching and moderately enjoyable...however, in spite of its many strengths the film winds up less clever than it obviously thinks it is."
One Guy's Opinion
Frank Swietek
3.5/4
"
Matchstick Men
is really two movies brilliantly spliced into one, each enriching the other."
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
3.5/4
"the fact that the film ends on an image of sublime sentimentality and gets away with it scott free is enough to make it worth seeing twice, just to appreciate how it got there."
Q Network Film Desk
James Kendrick
3/5
"Ridley Scott plays the con game with more style than story, mostly thanks to Nicolas Cage's tic-riddled, jumpy lead performance."
Netflix
James Rocchi
7/10
"Click here to read review"
Kinoblog.com
Jaroslav Vishtaljuk
2.5/4
"Relies heavily on its Rat-Pack-ish ambience and retro style to propel its disjointed storyline steadily forward."
Palo Alto Weekly
Jeanne Aufmuth
8/10
"Cage's performance earns nothing but applause from me."
Window to the Movies
Jeffrey Chen
7/10
"A well-structured vehicle that delivers an enjoyable and entertaining ride."
Screen It!
Jim Judy
8/10
"I truly enjoyed it from start to finish."
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
JoBlo
7/10
"...the sort of light, breezy entertainment that feels a lot more like George Roy Hill or Peter Bogdanovich than it does Ridley Scott."
DVDTown.com
John J. Puccio
2.5/5
"The acting and dialogue and story are all good, but somehow the whole thing feels really poky and tentative."
Cinerina
Karina Montgomery
2.5/4
"An amusing enough, moderately clever movie, but most of it is rather one-note."
Montreal Film Journal
Kevin N. Laforest
B
"[Cage is] the reason to see "Matchstick Men," a good film kept from greatness by a script...that tips its hand too early."
Reeling Reviews
Laura Clifford
3/5
"A breezy crime picture with an unforced sentimental underbelly."
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Maitland McDonagh
3.5/4
"Awkward as it may be,
Matchstick Men
's conclusion is a comparatively small sin attached to an otherwise superlative character study and comedy of deceit."
Mark Reviews Movies
Mark Dujsik
2.5/4
"A good bit of entertainment that will not replace
Paper Moon
in the film history books"
Movie Habit
Marty Mapes
3.5/4
"This is a case of a director finding a way to convey things visually so that the story is enhanced."
Aisle Seat
Mike McGranaghan
A-
"Ridley Scott has assembled the ingredients in this movie like a perfectly iced martini that is stirred, not shaken. The result is dry but refreshing -- and with a kick."
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies
Nell Minow
B
"A lot more fun than most of the director’s pompously inflated output."
Lessons of Darkness
Nick Schager
3.5/5
"There's a solid emotional resonance ... In many ways, this is Scott's best film yet."
Shadows on the Wall
Rich Cline
B-
"This is a con movie where the con utterly fails... but everything else succeeds."
Flipside Movie Emporium
Rob Vaux
B+
"With its surprise ending and solid performances, this is one of the best films I have seen this year."
Laramie Movie Scope
Robert Roten
B
"I wish "Matchstick Men" kept me in the dark longer than it does leading to the climax. It is a real pleasure, though, to see Cage in thesping form again."
Reeling Reviews
Robin Clifford
3.5/5
"With
Matchstick Men
the destination is pretty clear; it's the travel time that's most entertaining."
eFilmCritic.com
Scott Weinberg
B+
"(A) breezy con artist picture that, while long in the tooth, finds solid roots in valuable family relationships."
Eclipse Magazine
Sean O'Connell
"
Matchstick Men
isn't even remotely intricate; it's not even particularly interesting."
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
B
"In the end, the film’s biggest surprise isn’t any of its twists and turns, but how much we finally care about the characters and their ultimate fates."
Decent Films Guide
Steven D. Greydanus
8/10
"It's fun to watch the clever, dryly comic, quintessential can man's con."
www.susangranger.com
Susan Granger
3/4
"An entertaining addition to the caper comedy genre of films."
Reel.com
Timothy Knight
2/4
"A film about putting people on is, at the end, unable to put
us
on."
Film Freak Central
Walter Chaw
"Click here to see review"
Wolf Entertainment Guide
William Wolf
7/10
Read review
Movie Gazette
Anton Bitel
Read review
BlackFilm.com
Wilson Morales
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OFCS Rating: 77% Fresh
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