Matchstick Men

2003 Comedy Drama

Ridley Scott directs the crime comedy Matchstick Men, based on the novel of the same name by Eric Garcia. Neurotic con man Roy (Nicolas Cage) suffers from several emotional problems, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. He and his partner Frank (Sam Rockwell) swindle people out of money by posing as money collectors who promise things like tax refunds, package vacations, and other fabulous prizes (which they never get). Frank wants to pull a really big job, but Roy is too consumed with fear and panic attacks to join him. Only cigarettes and his trusty illegal prescription drugs seem to keep him going. When Roy finds himself in desperate need of more pills, he is forced to see legitimate psychotherapist Dr. Klein (Bruce Altman). Roy ends up talking about his emotional damage from a troubled marriage and divorce, which results in the discovery of a child whom he has never met. Dr. Klein suggests that he spend a weekend with the kid, so in walks teenaged Angela (played by twentysomething Alison Lohman). Reluctant to develop his role as a father, Roy also gets heavily involved in Frank's ambitious swindle. more..

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Alison Lohman, Sam Rockwell, Bruce McGill, Bruce Altman

Reviews

  • Lohman in particular is effective; I learn to my astonishment that she's 24, but here she plays a 15-year-old with all the tentative love and sudden vulnerability that the role requires, when your dad is a whacko confidence man.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    26 April 2013

  • Credible? Not really. But Cage and Rockwell play off each other with devilish finesse. And Lohman (White Oleander) is on fire -- she's a comer.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    26 April 2013

  • A clever look at con artists and their games of deception.

    Edward Guthmann - The San Francisco Chronicle

    26 April 2013

  • Well-acted and intriguing exploration of dishonesty in its varied forms, leavened with a dry comic touch.

    Claudia Puig - USA Today

    26 April 2013

  • Actually, there's one other way to approach Matchstick Men, and that's to forget all about neuroses and con artistry and admire the movie instead for the unsettlingly beautiful directorial study in geographical mood that it is.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical

    Satellite Awards (2004)