Monkeybone (2001) - Selick's catastrophic fantasy romcom

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Star Brendan Fraser encircled in a virtual vortex of craziness on a poster for Henry Selick's Monkeybone

A cartoonist who has created a vulgar monkey character which is about to premiere as a major animation feature, goes into a coma after an incredible accident. He winds up in a pre-death world created by his nightmares.

Monkeybone is written by Sam Hamm (Masters of Horror (2005-06)), based on the graphic novel Dark Town (1995) by Kaja Blackley, and directed by New Jerseyite master filmmaker Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)), whose 3rd feature it is.
It is a very lopsided film, clearly inspired by Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988). Unfortunately it doesn't come together as a satisfying whole.
Brendan Fraser (Still Breathing (1997)) gives it his all in the very demanding lead role that's also reminiscent of the Nutty Professor/Buddy Love dynamic (in the guise of Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor (1996)), as he plays the zany, vulgar monkey that's inhabited his cartoonist self in parts of the film, which can't but make one wonder what the !%#!! the financiers of Monkeybone were thinking. Audiences unsurprisingly didn't board this enormously budgeted, interesting visually and FX-wise, lavish serving of uncontrolled WTF.
Much of Monkeybone looks like something for children, - and Fraser's appeal at the time also leads one to imagine so, - but Monkeybone is decidedly not suitable for children; it is a unique kind of head-scratching box office disaster.

Related posts:
 
Henry Selick: 2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Coraline (2009) - Selick's otherworldly masterpiece   

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 75 mil. $
Box office: 7.6 mil. $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.10 times its cost)
[Monkeybone was released 23 February (USA) and runs 92 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, from June - October 1999. Selick is rumored to have been fired as director some time towards the end of making the film by studio Fox in an attempt to make it more mainstream, possibly replaced by executive producer Chris Columbus. The film opened #11 to a 2.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, its peak there, where it grossed 5.4 mil. $ (71.1 % of the total gross). The foreign gross numbers have not been made public at Box Office Mojo. Roger Ebert gave the film a 1.5/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. Selick returned with Moongirl (2005, short) and theatrically with masterpiece Coraline (2009). Fraser returned in The Mummy Returns (2001); Bridget Fonda (Camilla (1994)) in Kiss of the Dragon (2001). Monkeybone is rotten at 19 % with a 3.96/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Monkeybone?

Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) - Child performances stand out in July's fine debut

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+ Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Dramedy of the Year

A number of characters are amassed around in a circle around praise by critic Roger Ebert on a coat of pink on this poster for Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know

A woman artist, who has a day job rolling wheelchair-bound elders around, meets an exciting man, who works in a shoe store and is separated from the mother of his children.

Me and You and Everyone We Know is written and directed by debuting Miranda July (Kajillionaire (2020)). The film is actually just as much about the exciting man's two sons, and a couple of teenage girls in the neighborhood, as it is about the two adults that meet.
July's debut is the definition of a quirky, offbeat little indie debut - in this case thankfully with a large personal investment.
The tinily plotted tale is a different kind of film experience, which instead lives on its director's artistic eye for details and symbolism, - as well as some laughter-inducing lines and chains of events.
July, who plays the lead artist herself, and the two boys, portrayed by Miles Thompson (Thirteen Conversations about One Thing (2001)) and Brandon Ratcliff (Blood Shed (2013)), are best in the cast; the latter two are outstandingly natural in the two parts that among other themes revolve around the sexuality of children. July's invention in this respect, particularly for the younger of the boys, will undoubtedly inspire conversations.  John Hawkes' (Contagion (2011)) salesman character, a man who isn't ideally suited for fatherhood, and who rambles on in overly honest fashion at his job, is a bit galling.
July arrives well with this crackerjack of a movie.

 

Related post:

 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 2 mil. $
Box office: 8 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4 times its cost)
[Me and You and Everyone We Know premiered in January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. Shooting took place in Los Angeles, California from July - August 2004. The film opened #50 to a 30k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #18 and in 160 theaters (different weeks), grossing 3.8 mil. $ (47.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 1 mil. $ (12.5 %) and France with 716k $ (9 %). The film won 4 awards in Cannes, was nominated for 2 Independent Spirit awards and won a prize in Sundance, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. July returned with The Future (2011) as a filmmaker as well as as an actress. Hawkes returned in The Amateurs (2005). Me and You and Everyone We Know is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.38/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Me and You and Everyone We Know?

Memories of Murder/살인의 추억 (Sarinui chueok) (2003) - Song performance crowns Ho's rich crime drama

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+ Best Crime-Drama of the Year + Best Serial Killer Movie of the Year + Best South Korean Movie of the Year

Tense and uncomfortable, the detective leads look towards us on this B/W, unsettlingly slanted poster for Bong Joon Ho's Memories of Murder

A rapist and murderer of women roam a distant province in South Korea, and a big city cop travels there to assist the local police in their effort to catch him.

Memories of Murder is written by Sung-bo Shim (Blade of the Phantom Master/Shin angyo onshi (2004)) and South-Korean master filmmaker, co-writer/director Bong Joon Ho (Barking Dogs Never Bite/Flandersui gae (2000)), whose 2nd feature it is. It is based on the same-titled 1996 play by Kim Kwang-lim (Bird Made of Language/Eoneoro mandeun sae (1979)), in turn based on the so-called first serial killer of South Korea, who murdered at least 10 victims between 1986-91.
It is a classical procedural crime drama tale, but it is told atypically, using some unusual means, not least a lot of humor. - The characters are mostly not having a fun time in it, - but they are funny nonetheless: The local police are enormously incompetent, and they are confronted with the outsider, whose professionalism on the other hand begins to crack, as the breaking of the case continues to elude them all.
Periods of Memories of Murder are sorely thrilling, but the narrative doesn't arrive at a fever pitch of thrills and so should be regarded more a drama than a thriller. It probes our basic lacking ability to gaze into the machinations of another human being, to see guilt and intentions, and also the slippery nature of confessions.
The setting is dismal, so no-one is likely to be tempted to traverse South Korea based on watching Memories of Murder, but this seems also to reflect the reality of the men trying to catch the savage killer.
Kang-ho Song's (Hindsight/Poo-reun so-geum (2011)) performance as the local cop, who gradually comes to realize his lacking abilities, is awards-worthy, practically a lighthouse in this incredible film, which also has a strong and disturbing ending.

Related posts:

Bong Joon Ho: The day after ... the 2020 Oscars  
Parasite/기생충 (Gisaengchung) (2019) or, The Haves and the Have Nots 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 2.8 mil. $
Box office: 27 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 9.64 times its cost)
[Memories of Murder was released 2 May (South Korea) and runs 131 minutes. Shooting took place in South Korea The film became the 2nd highest-grossing South-Korean film of the year in South-Korea and the 3rd highest-grossing in the country that year overall, with 5.1 mil. admissions at a 5 $ average ticket prize, coming to 26 mil. $. The film's Box Office Mojo sheet lists Italy with 460k $ (1.7 % of the total gross) as the film's largest foreign market, and France with 197k $ as its 3rd biggest market, but the sheet is missing Asian markets such as Japan and Taiwan, which may have turned significant gross numbers. SPOILER The real-life Hwaseong serial killer was not made out until 2019, when DNA evidence connected a man already serving a life sentence in Busan for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law to 4 of the murders. He later admitted to 14 murders and more than 30 rapes and attempted rapes. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #177 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between Fargo (1996) and Tokyo Story (1953). Joon-ho returned with 3 short films prior to his theatrical return with The Host/Gwoemul (2006). Song returned in The President's Barber/Hyojadong ibalsa (2004); Sang-kyung Kim (The Deal/Salineuiloe (2015)) in Nae namjaui romance (2004). Memories of Murder is certified fresh at 91 % with a 7.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Memories of Murder?

An Officer and a Spy/J'Accuse (2019) - Polanski's sober historical drama of scandal and principles

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+ Best Historical Drama of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year

Two uniformed army men in old-time France stand face to face on this poster for Roman Polanski's An Officer and a Spy

In 1894 a swift military court condemns Jewish captain Dreyfuss as a traitor and sends him to reclusion for life on Devil's Island, relying on the scrambled evidence gathered by an intelligence director ill with syphilis. His replacement digs deeper and discovers that a miscarriage of justice has occurred.

An Officer and a Spy is written by Robert Harris (Fatherland (1994, TV movie), based on his novel), adapting his own same-titled 2013 novel, and French/Polish master co-writer/director Roman Polanski (Knife in the Water/Nóz w Wodzie (1962)), whose 22nd feature it is.
The film may well become the last in the master filmmaker's body of work, as he is 87 years now and just about castigated from today's moralistic, blood-thirsty film community for his 1977 sex case (he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in Los Angeles, 13 year-old Samantha Geimer, but fled punishment). The film is not among Polanski's career's tallest achievements, but as a historical drama about one of the most talked about scandals in modern Western history, An Officer and a Spy is sober, well-made and fully engaged. But the sad implicit context - that Polanski feels similar to the wrongfully convicted, disgraced Dreyfuss, - cannot but leave an invisible shadow over An Officer and a Spy.
Jean Dujardin (Ca$h (2008)) is superb as the admittedly antisemitic Picquart, who comes to lead the small Paris intelligence bureau and champion the effort to establish the actual truth - and exonerate Dreyfuss. His fencing duel with his antagonistic right-hand man Henry (a great Grégory Gadebois (Goodbye Morocco (2012))) is terrific. Louis Garrel (Love Songs/Les Chansons d'Amour (2007)) portrays the vulnerability and agony of the 'wrong man' convictee, Dreyfuss with fervor and empathy. And Emmanuelle Seigner (Giallo (2009)) is exquisite as Picquart's secret love.
The serious approach by Harris/Polanski is far from the vivid plot game of their previous collaboration, thriller masterpiece The Ghost Writer (2011), leaving little room for Alexandre Desplat's (Unbroken (2014)) classical Polanski-style score. An Officer and a Spy is especially for those historically interested audiences and plays out like a 19th century-set John le Carré novel, but its themes of treason, lies, deceit, a conspiracy in the intelligence and military top, as well as prejudice, racial hatred and injustice are as relevant today as they were in the 1890s.

Related posts:

Roman Polanski: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Carnage (2011) - Polanski castigates modern parents in great play adaptation
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
The Ghost Writer/The Ghost (2010) - A master at work 
Chinatown (1974) - Polanski's masterpiece 
Film Excess' 7th birthday movie masterpiece: The Fearless Vampire Killers/Dance of the Vampires (1967) - Witness Polanski's incredible, underrated Gothic horror comedy 
Cul-de-Sac (1966) - Edge-of-the-world island tale meanders at times, but is ultimately a winner  
Two Men and a Wardrobe/Dwaj Ludzie z Szafą (1958, short) - Polanski's remarkable, surreal short

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 24-28 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 18.8 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say for sure, but looks like a huge flop (has returned around 0.78 times its cost for now)
[An Officer and a Spy premiered 30 August (Venice Film Festival) and runs 132 minutes. No less than 15 companies and governmental and European support bodies were involved in the financing and production of the film. Filming was scheduled for 2014 in Warsaw, Poland, when Polanski's sex case came in the way, as Poland officially deliberated whether they would extradite him to face justice in the US. Shooting with a lavish 60 mil. € budget in Paris in 2016 was also delayed due to the unavailability of a star. Shooting eventually took place in France, including Paris, from November 2018 - March 2019. The film is not set to release in North America, where distributors are wary of offending the politically correct in power, as well as the masses, who oppose Polanski, - and the demand for this type of film is regrettably likely small there in any case. The release has also been ruined by the China-virus pandemic. Its 3 biggest markets to date are France with 11.9 mil. $ (63.3 % of the total gross to date), Italy with 3.7 mil. $ (19.7 %) and Spain with 1.3 mil. $ (6.9 %). The film won 3/12 César award nominations, is nominated for a David di Donatello award, 4 European Film awards, and won 4 prizes in Venice, among other honors. Polanski does not have an announced next film. Dujardin returns in OSS 117: Alerte Rouge en Afrique Noire (2021). An Officer and a Spy is fresh at 77 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of An Officer and a Spy?

Metropolis/メトロポリス (Metoroporisu) (2001) - Rintaro's ambitious robo-anime a matter of taste

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Colorful cyberpunk sci-fi animation is promised on this poster for Rintaro's Metropolis

Complications arising concerned with the evolution of robots lead a future mega-city to a complete breakdown.

Metropolis is written by Katsihuro Ôtomo (Stink Bomb/Saishu Heiki (1995, short)), based on the same-titled 1949 manga by Osama Tezuka (Astro Boy (1952-68)), and directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999/Ginga tetsudô Three-Nine (1979)).
The inspiration from Fritz Lang's eponymous 1927 masterpiece (Metropolis (1927)) is apparent, though this anime evolves into a radically different film, especially due to its visual ambition, which divides audiences: Some will find the detailed, staccato-moving, fast-edited style with obvious mixing of traditional animation and CGI highly attractive, but others like myself find it deeply stressful and at times almost intolerable to watch. It is a matter of taste.
The style overwhelms the experience for me. Metropolis certainly is a noisy and special, doom-romanticizing film.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly 1 bil. ¥, approximately 15 mil. $
Box office: Uncertain, perhaps around 15.25 mil. $
= Uncertain, but looks like a huge flop (looks to have returned 1.01 times its cost)
[Metropolis premiered 26 May (Japan) and runs 113 minutes. Production reportedly lasted 5 years. The film opened #40 to an 84k $ first weekend in 9 theaters in North America, its peak weekend there, where it widened to 16 theaters and grossed 722k $. The world gross listed at Box Office Mojo is 4 mil. $. On Wikipedia the film is listed to have grossed 750 mil. ¥ in Japan, approximately 11.25 mil. $. Put together the gross comes to 15.25 mil. $. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 4 notches higher than this one. Metropolis is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Metropolis?

The Majestic (2001) - Soaring sentiments and production values in Darabont's under-appreciated Movie

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A glorious, cinematic kiss stretched across the night sky over an amazing-looking cinema on the poster for Frank Darabont's The Majestic

An upcoming Hollywood screenwriter, who is targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee of the 1950s, has an accident in which he hits his head. He wakes up in an ideal small town community, Lawson, California, where he is wrongfully recognized as a lost World War II soldier.

The Majestic is written by Michael Sloane (Hollywood Boulevard II (1990)) and directed by French-American master filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)), whose 3rd feature it is.
Jim Carrey (Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)) and Laurie Holden (Dead Man's Gun (1997, TV-series)) are fine in Darabont's exceptionally handsome production, a film that feels like it could just as well have been made in 1960 with James Stewart in the lead. Bob Balaban (No Reservations (2007)) makes a good villain; David Ogden Stiers (Lilo & Stitch (2002)) makes a good doctor, - but it is Martin Landau (Delta Fever (1987)) as Carrey's 'father', who stands out and activates our tear canals more than once in an awards-worthy turn.
The fine story here, which keeps one guessing, is told in a pace that is too leisurely at times. But it is a joy to watch a film done with style, panache and craftsmanship, obviously made without the (in major studio fare especially) normalized consideration that major sequences be accomplished during post production. It can be seen as well as felt.
Landau's speech in favor of the title-named theater over smaller screens is eminent. The Majestic is a Movie (capital letter very much intended) that develops in such a way that one almost can't imagine that it will end 'well'. - And yet it does, SPOILER with a court room scene that just about rewrites J. Edgar Hoover's communist witch-hunt, or at least strikes it back by Hollywood, in the guise of Carrey, counterfactually. Regrettably the ending still gets botched a bit, as the filmmakers inhale even more wind into The Majestic's already ballooned construction by having Carrey return to an exaggerated, somewhat absurd salutation in Lawson.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 72 mil. $
Box office: 37.3 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.51 times its cost)
[The Majestic premiered 11 December (USA) and runs 152 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from March - June 2001. The film opened #8 to a 4.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it did not peak higher in subsequent weekends and grossed 27.8 mil. $ (74.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were, with some uncertainty, Japan with 5.3 mil. $ (14.2 %) and Spain with 444k $ (1.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Darabont returned with Raines (2007, TV-series), The Shield (2007, TV-series) and theatrically with The Mist (2007). Carrey returned in Bruce Almighty (2003). The Majestic is rotten at 42 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Majestic?

My Life Without Me (2003) - Life ends prematurely in Coixet's drama

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Wild praise accompanies star Sarah Polley doused by rain on this poster for Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me

A 23 year-old cleaning lady and mother of two daughters gets an unexpected notice that she has metastatic ovarian cancer that will cause her death soon. She neglects to tell anyone about her situation, while she secretly gathers some last experiences in her still young life.

My Life Without Me is written and directed by Isabel Coixet (Demasiado Viejo para Morir Joven (1989)), based on the short story collection Pretending the Bed Is a Raft (1997) by Nanci Kincaid (Eat, Drink, and Be from Mississippi (2009)).
The film may be a hit for depressed, younger women, who look for a story to weep over, but for me My Life Without Me's humdrum pace and very female-centric plot wsa too distant and still for me to become immersed. Activities observed include doing laundry, washing and combing hair, cleaning, doing laundry (again), tending children, worrying, - and a romance which seems designed to make the tragedy even sadder.
One can't rob My Life Without Me of a certain poetic force as well as a fine cast, (which among others reunites two of the peripheral stars of Pulp Fiction (1994), Amanda Plummer (Ken Park (2002)) and Maria de Medeiros (Mar (2018)), though without giving them a scene together here either), - but this pasty downer wasn't my cup of misery tea.

 

Related posts:

 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a scene from the beginning of the film here

Cost: 2.5 mil. $
Box office: 9.7 mil. $ - 12.2 mil. $ (different reports)
= Big hit (returned 4.40 times its cost)
[My Life Without Me premiered 10 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 106 minutes. No less than 15 companies and governmental support bodies were involved in financing and making the film. Shooting took place in British Colombia, including Vancouver. The film opened #60 to a 40k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #53 and in 39 theaters (different weeks), grossing 0.4 mil. $ (4.1 % of the total gross, - betting on the 9.7 mil. $ gross listed at Box Office Mojo.) The film's 3 biggest markets were Japan with 5.3 mil. $ (54.6 %), Spain with 2.4 mil. $ (24.7 %) and North America. The film won a prize in Berlin, was nominated for 2 European Film awards, won 2/5 Goya award nominations, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Coixet returned with 3 other projects (a documentary, a segment and a video) before her theatrical return with The Secret Life of Words (2005). Sarah Polley (Trigger (2010)) returned in Dermott's Quest (2003, short) and theatrically in Luck (2003). My Life Without Me is fresh at 65 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of My Life Without Me?

Maggie (2015) - Suffering indie zombie downer

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+ Worst Movie of the Year

+ Career-Killer of the Year: Henry Hobson, John Scott 3 

Abigail Breslin looks less than well behind Arnold Schwarzenegger on this very gloomy poster for Henry Hobson's Maggie

Wade's teenage daughter Maggie has been bitten by a zombie in a post-apocalyptic America, and Wade vows to take care of her!

Maggie is written by John Scott 3 and directed by Henry Hobson (The Hangover Part II (2011, title designer)), whose debut it is.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (True Lies (1994)) is fine as protective, (failing) father Wade, but it is just painful (especially for a fan) to watch him as old and sad as he is here. Zombies can be scary and/or funny, - but here we are tasked with taking a dramatic interest in a teenage girl zombie (Abigail Breslin (Air Buddies (2006, video))) and her slow deterioration. Joely Richardson (The Hatton Garden Job (2017)) obviously struggles to immerse herself in the bizarre setup and keep her Southern accent high at the same time.
Maggie is without aim or dramatic punch. It is fatally boring, in fact it bores to the point of zombie-fying its audience.

 

Related post:

 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.4 mil. $
Box office: 1.6 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.14 times its cost)
[Maggie premiered 22 April (Tribeca Film Festival) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place in New Orleans, Louisiana. It opened #30 to a 131k $ first weekend in 79 theaters in North America, where it diminished in its 2nd week and was quickly pulled from distribution (by Lionsgate), grossing 187k $ (11.7 % of the total gross), and released as VOD. The film's 3 biggest markets were Italy with 337k $ (21 %), France with 328k $(20.5 %) and South Korea - in a release that didn't come until 2019 - with 269k $ (16.8 %). Hobson seems to have left the film business completely following Maggie; screenwriter Scott 3 is also gone. Schwarzenegger returned in Terminator Genisys (2015); Breslin in Final Girl (2015). Maggie is fresh at 60 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Maggie?

Matchstick Men (2003) - Great Cage job highlights entertaining Scott crime dramedy

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A poster that doesn't attract much attention for Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men

  
A deeply neurotic con artist experiences that his life is taking a very fresh turn, when he meets his 14 year-old daughter, and she begins to take an interest in his 'profession'.

Matchstick Men is written by brothers Ted Griffin (Ravenous (1999)) and Nicholas Griffin (Terriers (2010, TV-series)), adapting Eric Garcia's (The Materialist (2008)) same-titled 2002 novel, and directed by English master filmmaker Ridley Scott (The Duellists (1977)), whose 14th feature it is.
Nicolas Cage (Season of the Witch (2011)) impresses again as certainly one of the best living actors, and Alison Lohman (Alex in Wonder (2001)) gets a fierce, tremendous breakthrough role as his daughter. The psychiatrist is played with fine empathy by Bruce Altman (Show Me a Hero (2015, miniseries)).
The plot and execution works and is rather entertaining, - without revolutionizing with ingenuity in any way, - SPOILER and only towards the end a major twist for a while deflates the story and film, until a scene especially created for the film (not in the novel) restores some of its magic. The solution also heightens the always latent incestuous energy in Matchstick Men, which is never acted upon but which is always there as a piquant, transgressive element. Another unrelated reservation of mine; for no apparent, good reason Cage's character's ex-wife looks so much like the sweet cashier character in the film.
Matchstick Men is elevated most of all by Cage's masterful acting, which makes us sympathize somewhat with a very low con man.

Related posts:

Ridley Scott: The Martian (2015) - Scott and Damon triumph with hopeful sci-fi adventure  

Prometheus (2012) or, Even Then, Space Eggs Were Bad News
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Robin Hood (2010) - R. Scott's grand film of the English legend 

2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2008 in films - according to Film Excess 

Body of Lies (2008) - R. Scott's terror actioner is a fatiguing turkey 

2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2007 in films - according to Film Excess 

American Gangster (2007) - Great American - now black - gangster picture
A Good Year (2006) - Ridley Scott likes Provence

Hannibal (2001) - Grisly highlights in low-yielding Scott sequel 

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Gladiator (2000) - Experience the grandeur of the Roman Empire in Scott's dramatic masterpiece

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Blade Runner (1982) director's cut - Visual extravaganza, great SF 
Alien (1979) or, Space Eggs Are Bad News

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 62 mil. $
Box office: 65.5 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 1.05 times its cost)
[Matchstick Men premiered 2 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place from July - August 2002 in California, including Los Angeles, and in the Czech Republic. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Once Upon a Time in Mexico, to a 13 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 36.9 mil. $ (56.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 3.7 mil. $ (5.6 %) and Spain with 2.8 mil. $ (4.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Scott returned with Kingdom of Heaven (2005). Cage returned in National Treasure (2004); Lohman in Big Fish (2003); and Sam Rockwell (Trolls World Tour (2020)) in Piccadilly Jim (2004). Matchstick Men is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Matchstick Men?