Will Smith hasn’t starred in a movie since 2013’s sci-fi disaster “After Earth”, a Smith family affair that also involved son Jaden as co-star and wife Jada as co-producer. Oh, and M. Night Shyamalan was the director. And…it laid an egg.
If Smith believed, after reading the script for “Focus”, that this could be his big comeback film, then he needs to get his eyes checked. While it’s not on the level of “bomb” (or “After Earth”) as I was fearing, “Focus” is completely underwhelming, with an average plot that is rarely unpredictable, a big problem for a film about con artists.
Smith plays con king Nicky. One night in NYC he unexpectedly meets Jess, a low-level con (played by “The Wolf of Wall Street”‘s Margot Robbie). Jess tells Nicky that she wants to become as big and successful in the con business as he is, and that she’ll do anything to become his apprentice. This includes becoming his partner in crime (and in bed) in New Orleans, during the week of a fictitious professional football league championship game (clearly the NFL wanted nothing to do with this production).
In one of the few standout scenes, Nicky, who’s also a compulsive gambler (or is that just part of the act?) takes things a little too far with a high-roller in his luxury box in the stadium, all the while slowly reeling Jess, and us, in. More suspense comes from this nearly 10-minute sequence than in all of Mark Wahlberg’s remake of “The Gambler”. Unfortunately, there are interesting twists and turns that are necessary in con/caper films to keep you guessing and playing along.
After Nicky and Jess’ relationship takes an interesting turn, they reunite in Buenos Aires for more misadventures that take up the entire second half of “Focus”, which is much slower than the first. This section is less about the cons and crimes, and more about the romantic ups and down of the Smith and Robbie characters. For only a few brief moments did I believe these two could be a real couple. There’s hardly any chemistry between the actors.
But at least they’re now comfortably acquainted with each other, as they’re teaming-up again for next year’s “Suicide Squad”. It’s an appropriate title, since that’s where it appears Smith’s career is headed. However, that film and this December’s NFL drama “Concussion”, could get the former #1 Box Office draw back onto Hollywood’s A-List. In the meantime, “Focus” only serves to make the prospects of a successful comeback even more unclear.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Focus” gets a C.
Running Time: 105 min.