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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
OFCS Rating: 77% Fresh
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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
OFCS Rating: 77% Fresh
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