By Peter Morris in Los Angeles on 17th July 2003
If you’ve read the rest of the reviews on this site you’ll know that I’m not the biggest fan of ED BURNS as an actor (see review “Life or Something Like it”). However I’m happy to say that I am willing to give credit where it’s due and this is one film that sneaked up on me with very little hype or publicity - and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s not that BURNS is exceptionally brilliant but rather that he’s part of an excellent ensemble cast which includes some of the best character actors in America today DONAL LOGUE ( “The Patriot”, “The Tao of Steve” , “The Big Tease”), PAUL GIAMATTI (“Saving Private Ryan”, “Man on the Moon”), LUIS GUZMAN (“Traffic”, “Punch Drunk Love”,“Anger Management” ), plus RACHEL WEISZ (“The Mummy 1&2”, “About a Boy” , “Enemy at the Gates” et al), ANDY GARCIA ("The Godfather 3”, “Oceans Eleven”, “Internal Affairs” et al) and the always excellent DUSTIN HOFFMAN (“Moonlight Mile”, “Tootsie” and too many others to mention).
The plot revolves around a very slick team of con men led by BURNS who pride themselves on their professionalism and never being caught.
Obviously that can’t last if we’re to have a good story and it turns out they’ve ripped off the accountant of “The King” a psychotic gay crime lord played by none other than HOFFMAN.
When Jake Vig (BURNS) realises what’s happened - one of his guys turns up dead - instead of panicking he offers to repay the money by pulling off an even bigger con. Of course this time as well as being one man down he’s also forced by “The King” to take along his enforcer to keep an eye on him - and Jake wants to bring along a female pickpocket (WEISZ) which doesn’t go down well with the rest of the gang. Throw in a couple of corrupt LA cops and a dogged FBI agent who’s been chasing the gang across the country for years - and you have a pretty convoluted plot.
It’s not the most unique story ever writtten but as an unheralded film among so many over hyped sequels and blockbusters this summer -"Confidence” kept my attention with an intriguing number of twists and turns and excellent, darkly comic performances from all concerned. I hope it gets a wide enough release to do it justice - this team will never be big enough to open a film on the strength of their individual names but these are the kind of actors you’d want in your films if you were a producer and they’ve got a good script to work with - not a bad combo.
UK Release Date: 22nd August 2003
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
