I first started to see previews for Matchstick Men earlier this summer. I can’t remember which movies I was seeing at the time, but I ended up seeing the preview for Matchstick Men several times. Then the ads started on television. I thought that the movie looked interesting. I went to see it recently. I thought it had some flaws, but it was entertaining.

Roy Waller had some problems. He was obsessed with cleaning and he had obsessive compulsive disorder. He had to do things a certain way. He was taking some kind of medication that seemed to keep him calmer. He didn’t like being outside. He tended to eat only tuna. He was a chain smoker. He was also a con man.

Roy worked with Frank Mercer, another con man. Frank knew about Roy’s problems. They had an office they worked out of, talking people out of money with the promise of winning a prize. Then they did something else to get even more money from the people. Roy and Frank split what money they got. Roy’s problems did interfere with his work at times. One morning, Roy accidently dumped his pills down the kitchen sink. The doctor he had been getting them from had left town. Roy turned into a twitching, blinking mess without his medicine. He became even more obsessed with cleaning and was ready to freak when Frank stopped by and didn’t take his shoes off.

Roy found a new doctor to go to. Dr. Klein wouldn’t just give Roy a prescription though. Dr. Klein wanted Roy to discuss his problems. Roy wasn’t happy about that, but he went along with it to get the medicine. Dr. Klein gave Roy something that he was a sample of a new drug. Roy started to settle back down. Then he discovered that he had a fourteen year old daughter named Angela. Roy met her and they spent some time together. He seemed to enjoy being with her. He didn’t tell her that he was a con man.

Frank had been wanting to pull a bigger con that would take longer to set up. Roy said he didn’t do that anymore, but he ended up changing his mind. Frank somehow found the mark, Chuck Frechette, and they started setting things up. Angela turned up at Roy’s house, saying she had a fight with her mom. She wanted to stay with him. He agreed, though he had to leave her home alone while he went to a meeting. Angela spent the time making a mess in the house and going through things. Roy and Angela had some fun together, but they also had some disagreements. He finally did tell her that he was a con man. She then started bugging him to teach her how to pull cons. Roy reluctantly did, and Angela ended up involved more than Roy wanted.

CAST

Nicolas Cage - Roy Waller
Sam Rockwell - Frank Mercer
Alison Lohman - Angela
Bruce Allman - Dr. Klein
Bruce McGill - Chuck Frechette

Matchstick Men was released in September of 2003. The movie was 116 minutes long and rated PG-13. There was some swearing in the movie, but it wasn’t that extreme. This really wasn’t a movie for children. The movie was based on a book by Eric Garcia. I have not read the book so I have no idea how much was changed or how close the movie stayed to the book.

Matchstick Men was an entertaining movie. It started off a little slow, but it got more interesting. I wasn’t bored with the movie, even during some of the slower spots. There was a lot of stuff going on. I thought that some of related to what Roy and Frank were doing was interesting. There were several things that happened that I didn’t expect. I figured out one thing, but only about two minutes before it was revealed. I didn’t think the movie was predictable at all.

I think Matchstick Men was a drama with some comedy added in. Most of the movie was serious, but there were some things here and there that helped to lighten the mood and made me laugh. The movie wasn’t hilarious, but it was funny at times. The movie wasn’t an action movie, but there were one or two scenes that did have some action in them. There was a little bit of violence at one point. It wasn’t really graphic, but it could still be disturbing to some people. There were no sex scenes or romance in the movie. Roy did seem to be interested in a woman, but he didn’t really do anything to act on it.

Matchstick Men didn’t end how I expected. There were some surprises. After the movie was over and I was thinking about it some, I realized that almost everything that happened - and most definitely the ending - hinged on one event. Roy did something rather insignificant that turned out to be very important. If he hadn’t done it, things wouldn’t have unfolded the way they did. At first I thought it was one thing, but then I remembered that if he hadn’t done something else before that, he never would have done the other thing anyway. To me, it seemed like a lot of planning went into something that happened. It couldn’t have worked without a lot of planning. But there never would have been the opportunity if one small thing hadn’t happened.

Matchstick Men did deal with some serious things, but it wasn’t an overly serious movie. The movie was not attempting to solve any big problems. It was meant to be enjoyed as entertainment. Roy, the main character, had some problems. He suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder. His home was spotless because he was always cleaning. He had to do some things a certain way. At times he said some strange things and couldn’t seem to control what he was saying. His character was taking some sort of medicine and going to therapy during the movie. If he didn’t take the medicine, he couldn’t function very well. One eye started blinking and he would twitch a lot. He would also go on cleaning binges. I don’t know much about obsessive compulsive disorder, so I really don’t know if a pill would do anything to help a person with that condition. It did seem like when Roy was spending more time with Angela, his symptoms just vanished, and then when she wasn’t with him for some reason, they came back with a vengeance. The movie almost seemed to be putting out the message that people with problems like Roy’s didn’t really need to get help because they could work through it all on their own if they were just happy. Some people, especially anyone dealing with a problem like that, could be upset by that. Roy’s problems were used to lighten the mood several times in the movie. It seemed like sometimes one of his symptoms would pop out just to get a laugh. The movie did seem to make light of Roy’s problems at times. People with similar problems could be offended by that.

I thought that the acting in Matchstick Men was good. Nicolas Cage was very good as Roy. This was one of his better performances that I have seen. I haven’t seen all of his movies though. This is the first time I’ve seen one of his movies in a long time. I think the most recent movie of his I saw before this one was Gone in Sixty Seconds, one that wasn’t that impressive. This movie did have some humor in it for him, which reminded me of some of his earlier roles in comedies. I haven’t seen Sam Rockwell in anything else. He wasn’t in as much of the movie, so he didn’t have as much to do, but it was good. I haven’t seen Alison Lohman in anything else either. She was really good as Angela, especially since she is really much older than the character she was playing. She isn’t the first person to play a much younger character in a movie. Bruce McGill turned up in a few scenes as Chuck. He was in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde earlier this summer. He was also in Exit Wounds a few years ago. He also did fine with his role, though nothing really stood out.

CHARACTERS

Roy Waller - He was a con man with some problems. He took medication and then started therapy to control his condition so he could work. He cleaned a lot. Even his garbage was neat. He only ate tuna fish most of the time. He had no idea how to be a father, but he wanted to spend time with Angela when he found out about her.

Frank Mercer - Roy’s partner. Frank learned everything he knew from Roy. They seemed to be good friends. Frank wanted to pull off a bigger con that would take more time and planning.

Angela - Roy’s fourteen year old daughter. They meet and start to do things togther. She seemed to be a bit messed up at times. She had trouble getting along with her mom. She was very interesting in getting to know Roy. She wanted to learn how to do cons.

Chuck - Rich man that Frank found for the bigger con.

Matchstick Men did have some flaws, but I enjoyed it. It is worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of any of the cast.

Related Reviews
Exit Wounds ~ Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde ~


Recommended: Yes