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Matchstick Men
R4 - Australia - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (9th June 2004). |
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The Film
 In the last few years Ridley Scott has given us some big budget blockbuster genre films, with the likes of Gladiator, Hannibal, and Black Hawk Down, in fact if you look at most of Scott's films you'll find a common trend, the guy must like taking the helm of large productions and having enough money to get that million dollar shot. It appears Scott wanted a break from all that and went back to his small Thelma and Louise type filmmaking roots. Matchstick Men was an in-between project something to fill the time between his next giant sized film (Tripoli, which was supposed to be his next after Matchstick but has since been pushed back further). Matchstick Men is a crime film, a comedy and a thriller all rolled into one, Roy (Nicolas Cage) and Frank (Sam Rockwell) play a pair of con artists always on the swindle by baiting unsuspecting costumers by phone. These two partners in crime could not be more opposite, Roy is an obsessive-compulsive introvert, while Frank is a fearless extrovert. Roy and Frank have worked with each other for quite some time and have developed a rock solid synergy where they can take anyone for any amount of money, but recently they've only been doing small jobs and Frank wants to move up and con a wealthy businessman Chuck Frechette (Bruce McGill) but Roy's uninterested until one day he freaks out, looses his meds and finds out that his psychiatrist has skipped town. Not knowing what to do Roy barricades himself in his home and goes on a several day cleaning frenzy. Seeing that his partner is strung out and in need of meds ASAP, Frank sends him to see Dr. Klein (Bruce Altman) a shrink who he knows. After a few sessions Dr. Klein tries to get down to what really bothers Roy and finds out that he was once married, Dr. Klein helps Roy by prescribing some new pills and calls his ex-wife on Roy's request. Roy feeling better decides to go with the businessman con. But just as things are stating to go his way Roy finds out from Dr. Klein that he has a teenage daughter Angela (Alison Lohman) from his ex-wife of 15 years and she wants to meet her father. Angela after all this time wants to have a relationship with her father that her mother does not approve of. After a fight she moves in with Roy for a few days and eventually learns what her father does for a living. To his surprise she wants to learn how to be a con artist, eventually after some nagging and persuasion Roy teaches his daughter the tricks of the trade. Frank later finds out about Roy's daughter and convinces him to use the girl on the businessman con job, from here on in things get a little hairy until a twist at the end knocks you off your feet. But there is no point in ruining the ending for those who have not seen this film before. Ridley Scott has crafted a very entertaining and sweet con flick and at the core are the wonderfully quirky characters especially Roy, this is by far the best performance Nicolas Cage has given us since Leaving Las Vegas matched up with the always entertaining Sam Rockwell and you have a dynamite team of opposites that make for an awesome ride through the con world. Alison Lohman is equally impressive this young actress has delivered a performance that's not only convincing of a sweet teenage girl but that is also well crafted and shows some signs of maturity. Ridley Scott has given us a great 'little' picture, now this film doesn't only excel in the story and acting department but the technical aspects are also impressive. John Mathieson's photography captures the dullness and mundane aspects of L.A. with its grey and silver hues this sense of dullness perfectly matches the dullness of the small cons these two partners are pulling. That is until something bigger comes their way, the unique brand of editing also adds to the quirkiness of this film a combination of fast cuts, jump cuts, image flips, swipes and speed-ups give this film a whole new life beyond the great performances. And to top it all off Hans Zimmer gives us a charmingly clumsy score that helps set the mood for the film. Matchstick Men is an entertaining, involving and highly amusing tale with an unexpected twist at the end, I highly recommend checking this film out if you already haven't.
Video
The film is presented in a ratio of 2.35:1 and is anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Now for a film this recent you'd expect a great transfer, and that's exactly what Warner Brothers have given this film. This transfer has no artefacts, no edge enhancement, no grain there is no visible print damage at all. Additionally blacks are well balanced and shadow detail is impeccable as is background detail. What we have here is a clean sharp transfer that best represents the director's vision of the film.
Audio
This film includes only an English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. What we have here is an equally impressive surround mix to accompany the beautiful transfer. Dialogue is clear and distortion free, music and atmosphere surrounds are well represented and never overpower the dialogue. Sound separation in the channels is very well placed throughout the film, and for a movie that doesn't have any large action set pieces or explosions there is a lot of subtle directional sounds from the rear speakers. This DVD also includes subtitles in Arabic, English, English for the hearing impaired and Hebrew.
Extras
Upon looking at the extras list on the package it did not seem like a whole lot, the disc consists of a commentary and 3-part documentary and the film's theatrical trailer. But after viewing the extras present on this disc we have a wealth of information that will satisfy your curiosity on what it takes to create a film from script-to-production-to-release. The first extra we have is an in-depth audio commentary by director Ridley Scott, screenwriter Nicolas Griffin and co-screenwriter and producer Ted Griffin. The three gentlemen discuss many aspects of the filmmaking process from the writing of the script, getting it into Ridley's hands and of course how Ridley's vision of the project came to life. If you've ever heard commentaries by Ridley Scott (such as the ones featured on the Alien, Gladiator or Thelma and Louise DVDs) then you'll come to expect a quality track, and that's what we get here, there is never a dull moment on this track it is both entertaining and informative, these three guys manage to pack a wealth of information in their 111 minutes that the film runs. Following the commentary we have a making-of documentary entitled "Tricks Of The Trade: The Making-Of Matchstick Men" that is split into three parts, although on the menu you have the option to 'play all'. The three segments outline the three major stages that a filmmaker goes through, they are: pre-production, production and post-production. Each segment runs for around 20-25 minutes in length for a combined running time of 71 minutes. Pre-production deals with the screenwriting process, production meetings, location scouting, casting, wardrobe, picking your production crew etc. This is a first hand in-depth look at how a director like Ridley Scott prepares for a film. We get to meet some of the key players as well as crewmembers that have worked for Ridley for a number of years on many films. Second we have production where the crew begins principle photography, here we get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at directing actors, setting up shots and dealing with the logistic of a Hollywood film shoot, like the previous segment we get a great amount of cast and crew interviews as well as some wonderful moments captured while recording different takes on scenes. It is really nice actually seeing what a director does rather than just hearing them say it in an interview. Finally we get to the third part the post-production this of course deals with editing the film, creating the music and sound effects and dialogue work, going back to the edit and fine tuning it, test screenings and finally release. We also get some deleted scenes cut into this with some explanations of the reasons why they where trimmed. This is a wonderfully well crafted documentary that gives the viewer an first hand look at the complexities and logistics required to pull off a feature film. No stone was left unturned in just 71 minutes every thing you ever wanted to know about making this movie was revealed. Every DVD should have a documentary like this. Finally we get the film theatrical trailer, which is quite a charming trailer, presented in anamorphic widescreen. The only quibble that I have with these extras is that I would have liked the deleted scenes to be included in their entirety along with an optional commentary. Instead the deleted scenes are shown in clips (we don't get to see the complete scenes, just parts of them) edited into the third part of the documentary.
Overall
Ridley Scott, Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman are all on top form. Matchstick Men is one quirky, fun and cool ride that takes you on a twist at the end. Nicely crafted cinema and well presented on DVD with a solid transfer and surround mix and some great extras that cover all the bases. This is a winner in my books and I highly recommend it.
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