confidence

Heist films and movies about conmen are usually very entertaining as long as they are written
well. Prepare yourself for one of the slickest films of the genre.

“Confidence” follows the dangerously clever criminal exploits of Jake Vig, coolly played by Edward
Burns, and his team of grifters. Vig’s group of conmen is good at what they do, maybe too good.
When a successful job causes the group to unknowingly steal from a whimsically evil crime boss
played by Dustin Hoffman, things start to get ugly. “The King” (Hoffman) tells Vig that he and his
crew can get off the hook if they pull a scam for him: ripping five million bucks off of the most
influential, corrupt and dangerous business mogul in town. Vig takes the job in order to save the
lives of his crew and sets about formulating a plan to heist the money. He enlists the aid of Lily, a
pick pocketing floozy played by Rachel Weisz. To say any more would give away a suspenseful
story with a lot of unsuspecting turns.

Edward Burns is probably one of the smoothest yet toughest characters on screen in years. He
talks and acts like an almost Cro-Magnon thug, but when his scamming juices start flowing the
viewer has no trouble buying into the fact that he is an intelligent and capable mastermind. His
measured and direct narration of the film lends the story an engaging edge as if the audience is
getting a lesson in crime.

Dustin Hoffman does his best acting in years as the hyper active, depraved, strangely charming
yet ultimately creepy villain. You can’t help but like him, but you still don’t want him to win.
Hoffman found the line between lovable quirk and vicious bastard, and then he walked that line
without a misstep.

Rachel Weisz is the perfect femme fatale in this film: deliciously sexy, mysterious, temperamental
and all together dangerous. She does more acting with her eyes and body language in this film
than most starlets do in their entire careers.

A special nod should be made to Paul Giamatti who plays Vig’s right hand man, Gordo. This
movie was made years before Giamatti garnered attention from the Academy and proves that he
was a damn fine actor long before “Sideways.” Too bad the phony awards shows never pay
attention to movies like “Confidence.”

This movie is fast paced and cocksure. It jumps right in and gets intimately involved with the criminal underworld in the first minute. It comfortably stays there
throughout the film’s conclusion. This film moves, but it never loses you and takes the time to show the crime play out step by step without becoming boring. It’s
an entertaining and interesting ride to see how sharp Vig and company are at pulling off their scams. Sure, there is some sense of: “There is no way anyone
could be that smart!” but it’s forgivable because the film is so well executed.

It’s also one of the hippest films I’ve seen in a good long time. It has a nice, cool contemporary feel that helps the viewer get sucked into the scam. The
slickness comes from the story and the actors not Top 40 hip-hop or the newest sports cars.

The title of this film says it all. The way the director crafted the movie, the way the screenwriter handled the story and the way the actors portray their
characters; all aspects are dripping with confidence.