Confidence was the exact feeling i had when i saw this and parted with three of my english pounds to the lady behind the counter at Blockbuster a few years ago. Although the film had fallen under my movie radar, i saw the cast and thought that this film at least would be good enough to keep me entertained for the evening, it turned out to be more than that. A rental turned into a purchase, a purchase turned into me lending it out which led to other purchasing and talking about it. Any film that can pull off some good twists is worth watching in my opinion, this is definately one of them.
PLOT -
At the start of the film we meet Jake, our lead character who is dead, good start right! He narrates briefly as to how he ended up being dead and learn that he is the leader of a confidence trickster crew or a group of grifters. As we learn that cons are Jakes main source of income we get an insight into why someone would want to make him dead. We are led into a bar where a con is taking place, the 'mark' who the crew are attempting to rob is associated with a crime lord called The King. To pay his due, Jake must take on the biggest scam of his career and in the meantime consider who he can trust and who he should avoid, all with confidence!
CHARACTERS -
Jake
(Edward Burns - Saving Private Ryan). A smooth, sophisticated conman who has everything he needs, good looks, good clothes, multiple ids and a trustworthy crew of fellow grifters helping him make his money. He is the leader and the man with the knowledge, he at times narrates to the audience to make sure that everyone is understanding what is going on and presents himself to be a very confident (suprise), approachable and suave character.
Lily (Rachel Weisz, Constant Gardner) is a low level independant con artist who normally works the local nightclubs using her sexuality and flirty nature to lure men into her grasp. Her run ins with Jake give him the idea of recruiting her as another crew member, although relatively unknown he places trust in her when given a larger job by the King. Her various attributes are valuable in assisting the previously all male crew. As the only female in the movie, she is seen as Jakes love interest.
Gordo (Paul Giamatti - Sideways) is part of Jakes crew and a trusted and loyal friend. He knows his role in the team very well but shows signs of nervousness when bigger risks are taken on. He also provides some comic relief in what is quite a dark thriller with his over reactions, story telling and little comments towards other crew members.
Miles (Brian Van Holt, S.W.A.T) is part of Jakes crew and loves living the high life after each and every con. As probably the youngest member (ages never mentioned) he enjoys the risks and the rewards that come with it.
Winston 'The King' King (Dustin Hoffman, Meet the Fockers) is a crime lord who only Gordo knows anything about. He has ADHD which influences his behaviour with Jake and his soldiers but has a major con on his mind against one of his old rivals Morgan Price
Special Agent Gunther Butan (Andy Garcia, Godfather III) has been tracking Jake for years and is determined to finally catch him in the act. He is a thoughtful and intuative agent who can sometimes pre-determine Jakes next move. Wears an awful hat.
OTHER CHARACTERS -
Lupus (Franky G) is one of the Kings soldiers Omar Manzano (Luis Guzman) and Lloyd Whitworth (Donal Logue) are bent LAPD officers on Jake's payroll Morgan Price (Robert Forster) is The Kings old school rival with a multi million dollar business
PERFORMANCES -
Unfortunately due to the fast pace we take during the film, characters backgrounds are rarely touched on, this in my opinion, lets the film down slightly as we have no knowledge of what these people have done historically. We know as much of Jakes history in conning as other characters do plus it would have been good to know more about The King.
As you can imagine, Dustin Hoffman is quality. His change in behaviour due to his ADHD keeps those around him on edge. He demands respect in not only his character but you can see it in the other actors, they are in awe.
Rachel Weisz's performance of a seductive Lily is also good to watch and you can totally understand why men fall at her feet. Other characters such as Jake and Gordo are played well, basically what you would expect to see from Burns and Giamatti, unfortunately Andy Garcia looks uncomfortable as Agent Butan, his attire is shocking and i feel this character could have been more dangerous, overall he just looks and feels out of place, maybe that was the directors intention??
TECHNICAL STUFF -
Directed by James Foley who also directed the films Perfect Stranger and The Corruptor. Running time 97 minutes Special features include Commentaries from director, writer and cast members, deleted scenes, interviews with cast members and anatomy of a scene featurette
OVERALL -
Confidence is never going to be a great film but it is a stylish, sleek and sexy con movie. As mentioned before the lack of background to certain characters leaves you wanting to know more about them but its a clever film with clever twists performed by a really good cast. Its definitely worth a watch.
Enjoy. Live the dream
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Imagine you're a 'Player' in debt to a mob boss - known as the 'King'. To pay your due you ... more
must pull off the greatest scam of your career. Who can you trust? Maybe the couple of corrupt LAPD officers who are on your payroll? Your loyal crew? Or the red...
Bathed in self-conscious cool,Confidenceis a heist caper in which the heist is ... more
unimportant. As you might expect fromGlengarry Glen Rossdirector James Foley, this pulpy concoction is more interested in giving good actors a lot of hip, salty dialogue as ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 6 to 10 days...
Bathed in self-conscious cool,Confidenceis a heist caper in which the heist is ... more
unimportant. As you might expect fromGlengarry Glen Rossdirector James Foley, this pulpy concoction is more interested in giving good actors a lot of hip, salty dialogue as ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 6 to 10 days...
Imagine that you are a 'Player' in debt to a mob boss - known as the 'King'. To pay your ... more
due you must pull off the greatest scam of your career. Who can you trust? Maybe the couple of corrupt LAPD officers who are on your payroll? Your loyal crew? ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Standard fare for genre, good plot twists at end, solid performances all round Disadvantages: Standard fare for genre, little depth, nothing 'special'
lurchyboy2 01.06.2008 (01.06.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Confidence (DVD)
Advantages: Standard fare for genre, good plot twists at end, solid performances all round Disadvantages: Standard fare for genre, little depth, nothing 'special'
lurchyboy2 01.06.2008 (01.06.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Confidence (DVD)
![Confidence [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78517035.jpg "Confidence [DVD] [2003]")
Sep 30th, 2009
exceptional by (5%):
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