Con-man movies will never go out of style. There’s something that will always be appealing about street-smart that can earn a living by outwitting un-likeable marks.

Confidence brings us not just a single con-man, but an entire team of con-artists that move around the country perpetrating elaborate scams. The team is led by the too-smooth and too-confident Jake Vig, played by Edward Burns. We meet Jake and his team as they are scamming a greasy accountant out of $150 grand. Unfortunately, the accountant and the stolen money belong to a notorious crime lord nicknamed the King. Jake realizes that both he and his gang are dead men if they don’t make thiings right, so he arranges a meeting.

The meeting takes place The King’s strip club while he auditions a sister-on-sister strip act while simultaneously trying to snuggle up and hold hands with Jake. The King is played by Dustin Hoffman, in full blown scruffy-rat-faced-hyperactive freak mode. Jake agrees to work a grift for King in order to pay back what he owes him. Of course, nothing is really what it seems and everybody is working a complicated grift on everybody else. The double-crosses and hidden agendas just keep building until you just give up trying to figure it.

The movie would be infinitely more compelling if the characters were developed beyond cookie cutter stereotypes.  It’s ***censored*** near impossible to root for the mumble-voiced Edward Burns as the protagonist. He’s just too arrogant, too smug and too girly-faced. The rest of the characters fall into easy stereotypes: the corrupt cops, the pretty girl, the fat guy with a heart of gold, the grizzled federal agent, the big black guy, etc.

The highlights of the cast are Rachel Weisz as a beautiful and mysterious pickpocket and Paul Giamatti as a grifter with a phobia about unclean toilets. Neither is given much to do, but both actors do their best with the limited material. Weisz’s character seems implausibly added to the story line just to add some sex appeal. It seems highly illogical that you would pick a random albeit attractive pickpocket to join your highly-experienced crew on a very important job.

However, that would only be illogical if this movie took place in something that remotely resembled the real world. Instead, Confidence seems like it was shot from a tenth-generation copy of a David Mamet script with some mid-90’s Tarantino flourishes added for seasoning. The movie is even presented with a fractured time-line which opens with the Jake Vig character apparently dead, although definitely alive enough to narrate the movie and break the fourth wall when necessary.

With it’s bright neon lighting, slick cinematography and uninspired script, Confidence feels like the product of some rich white guys who have watched too much film noir and fantasize about living the gangsta lifestyle. The film is mildly entertaining because it hints that it has the potential to develop into something pretty cool, but it never does. When the movie is over, your are left with an elaborate trick, thin characters and an unsatisfied feeling. Confidence works as a temporary diversion with some nice performances, but ultimately falls flat.

Reviewed by Christopher Sharpe.

DVD DETAILS
Director commentary
Writer commentary
Cast commentary
Sundance Channel Presents “Anatomy of a Scene”
Music videos
Widescreen anamorphic format

CREDITS
Directed by James Foley
Written by Doug Jung
A Lions Gate Films release
Running time: 1:38.
MPAA rating: R
Starring: Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Donal Logue, Luis Guzman