You would think a film about con artists being clever would at least be clever itself. Unfortunately, Focus is utterly ordinary. Set up with all the right elements "“ an attractive cast, moody slow jazz soundtrack, and glamorous locations "“ the plot fails to deliver anything but a conventional script where the twists and turns feel expected and boring.
Nicky (Will Smith) is the best of the best at being a con artist, a third generation criminal that leads teams of up to 30 people as they pull off large and small-scale cons at big events like the Super Bowl. Jess (Margot Robbie) is a "dyslexic foster child" (as she describes herself) trying to get into the game and specifically trying to get Nicky to teach her his secrets. Even though Nicky knows having a heart in this game is dangerous, he falls for Jess anyway and she becomes his weak point, to the delight of his enemies.
I should clarify here that Focus relies on this love story for much of the film when in actuality, Jess and Nicky are only together at first for a week. They meet, sleep together, and have a falling out over a week. When they run into each other three years later, they act as if they're reunited lovers with tons of history. Built on that premise, the entire film is laughable as it becomes difficult to buy in to the central love story.
There are plenty of con artist films already, so when I watched Focus, I expected there to be twists and turns and to be wary of what anyone sold as truth. For Nicky to brag that he's the best, I expected a twist I didn't see coming. Unfortunately, that never happened. I had hoped to see a twist where the student outwits the master "“ where Jess proves that she is more than a woman that adoringly looks at Nicky while wearing tight dresses and doesn't care about cons outside of making him jealous. Spoiler alert "“ she's not. In this day and age, with the con artist plot tackled so many times, it only seems logical to me to freshen it up by enlivening the love interest. Without a fully fleshed out female character, especially when the trailer implies that Will Smith and Margot Robbie are a double billing "“ Focus comes across out of touch and behind the times.
