There is hardly anything more frustrating for cinephiles than to watch a film that displays great talent yet fails to use it in the proper way. Confidence, a 2003 crime thriller directed by James Foley, is one such film.
The protagonist and narrator, played by Edward Burns, is Jake Vig, leader of a group of Los Angeles con men who have perfected elaborate schemes to deprive their victims of large amounts of money. When Big Al (played by Louis Lombardi) is killed, the group learns that their latest target – strip club owner and mob money launderer The King (played by Dustin Hoffman) – did not take their action kindly. In order to save themselves from further retribution, Jake proposes not only to pay off King but also to conduct another confidence scheme against King’s rival, Morgan Price (played by Robert Forster). Jake recruits Lily (played by Rachel Weisz) to utilise her feminine charms for the operation. Things, however, get complicated when Jake becomes the target of Gunther Butan (played by Andy Garcia), an FBI agent determined to get him behind bars.
Confidence is a well-directed film that puts Los Angeles scenery, which so many other Hollywood films take for granted, to good use to provide a decadent “neo-noir” atmosphere. The cast is also very good, although Edward Burns looks rather bland compared to the supporting players, which include some of the greatest character actors of the time, like Paul Giamatti as one of Jake’s associates. Dustin Hoffman leaves an even better impression as the flamboyant villain. Confidence is, at the end of the day, betrayed by Doug Jung’s script, which is incredibly unimaginative. Apart from the “noirish” beginning in which the protagonist finds himself begging for his life and, through flashbacks, explains how his predicament came to be, there isn’t anything that hasn’t, in one way or another, been used in countless other thrillers and crime dramas dealing with con men. Jung tries his best by throwing in a red herring or two, but even the less experienced audience would relatively easily see through the web of deceit and betrayal. The inevitable comparisons with better-known films that cover similar subjects, like the legendary The Sting or Mamet’s House of Games, make Confidence look mediocre, and the “surprise” twist at the end could be easily predicted even by a less experienced audience. Although short enough to allow a less demanding audience to enjoy some light and easily digestible entertainment, Foley’s film is still a disappointment.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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