Tricks

Eine witzlose Komödie, ein psychologisches Familiendrama, welches die Zuschauer*innen nicht einbezieht, und eine kleine Thriller-Andeutung. Ein langweiliger Genre-Hybrid mit dem ausgezeichneten Nicolas Cage. Das Finale fand ich nicht kompliziert, es hat aber unglaubwürdig gewirkt. Es hat den vorigen Ereignissen einen Sinn gegeben, ich war aber nicht begeistert. Einer der schwächeren Filme von Scott. (27.08.2003)

A Coens’ film according to Scott. A very mediocre, unsurprising and already repeatedly worn-out script that simply does not suffice for two hours of plot. (03.11.2005)

Scott continues to surprise me more and more. While his highly regarded classics don't really resonate with me, his excursions into seemingly foreign genres fit me perfectly. This applies even more to "Švindlíři" (The Swindlers), considering that I usually don't like the genre of deceitful comedies. Scott, however, turned many clichés about final actions and unexpected family connections upside down and surprisingly placed them in the role of a total neurotic played by Nicolas Cage, who surprises perhaps all of his opponents. I was on edge during the airport action scene and I wholeheartedly rooted for the main characters. I liked almost everything - except for the final twist, which could greatly damage the experience upon rewatching. (09.05.2007)

Cage - excellent, Sam Rockwell - excellent, Alison Lohman - excellent. I was rather surprised to fins a movie from Ridley Scott (!) with Cage (!) that I didn’t know even existed. And it was a pleasant surprise. The type of cool movie that occasionally makes you laugh, but otherwise it’s pretty full-on. + unexpected ending. (15.12.2009)

I wish Ridley Scott would make a proper history drama again, that's his strength. He should live conversational movies to someone else. (18.01.2005)

Nicola Cage came to me completely captivated, which is true for me very often. He managed to carry the whole film until the end, basically in every moment. I can't help it, but I enjoy his acting. What didn't entertain me as much was the film's screenplay, which would be interesting mainly because of the ending, where the cards were revealed quite predictably. (16.10.2015)

It’s true that the screenplay for Matchstick Men is not particularly glorious. If it had fallen into the hands of even a mediocre director, it probably would have turned out a lot worse. But Ridley Scott is a more than above-average director :)) and so he squeezed what he could. The result is a film that pretends to be a light-hearted crime comedy until the last moment (and this position suits it very well), only to dick you around at the end, to put it vulgarly. :) It's just a pity Sam Rockwell didn't get more space. 75% (29.01.2010)