StunnaKrypto
Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Inclubabu
Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.
Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
juneebuggy
This was pretty good but not great, honestly pretty forgettable. A few funny bits mostly thanks to Adrian Martinez but I wouldn't call this a comedy as its labelled. Will Smith plays a con artist who takes on Margot Robbie as an inexperienced apprentice and then struggles to keep his eye on the prize after he develops romantic feelings for her. I liked Will Smith in this, he down plays his over the top Will Smithyness taking a more serious approach to his charcter. His chemistry with Margot Robbie is mediocre even though I felt like they were trying to set up a George Clooney/J-Lo sort of thing like in Out Of Sight but missing the fireworks. The locations added significantly to this and you're never really sure who is playing who. The scams are big and over complicated though -honestly that one at the football game with BD Wong had way too many variables to work. Decent back up cast especially with Martinez and Wong and a surprise appearance from Robert Taylor of Longmire who keeps his Aussie accent. Nice.
Mat DeLong
Will Smith and Margot Robbie (and all the supporting actors) do a great job with what they are given. These are talented actors for sure, as they managed to keep me watching all the way to the end of this awful movie.The problems:
Main characters are fairly one-dimensional and unbelievableThe first half of the movie has nothing to do with the second half other than a couple minor references. There is no coherent story arc, just the flat, under-developed love interest.I suggest watching 'The Score' instead.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Focus" is an American 100-minute movie from 2015, so by now it is two years old. It was written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, a duo of filmmakers that has collaborated for a really long time and this resulted in some good and some not so good works apparently. I guess this one here is somewhere in-between, maybe closer to the not so good. It features Will Smith and Margot Robbie as the lead actors and while both are really big names, I still don't see that great talent in both of them, especially Robbie. They aren't bad actors, but they are also far from convincing unfortunately when their characters require true range and depth and they can only partially may make up for these shortcoming with their great deal of charisma. Then again, they fit nicely in here because this movie (and the script in particular) are also about make-believe. The two filmmakers I mentioned earlier definitely need a lesson in subtlety. There are many many scenes and moments, and eventually the entire film, where they go way over the top and not in a good way at all. The first meeting between the two protagonists is a good example. Yes they want to depict that teacher-student relationship and show us how skilled Smith is, but all those tricks, all that he steals from her is just too much. Half of the items would really have been enough. This is a bit of shame as the "angry boyfriend" scene before that was actually not too bad. And there are more food scenes like the one with BD Wong (he gave a nice supporting performance and is probably among Asia's best in Hollywood right now), which was somewhat fun to see and the best thing is you don't even have to care about American Football to appreciate it because I sure don't. But these bright moments are quickly made up for and the negative element wins eventually. It's all so pompous, pseudo-intelligent and exaggerated that it's almost impossible to appreciate the film as a whole. Robbie and Smith are just means for the story and they also do not manage to elevate the script. The weakest moment of the film is probably the ending. I was tempted to give it a better rating before that final scene with Smith's character's father, but lets be honest here. A dad who shoots his brother in the chest (even with the medical justification) is just too much and this is where the film really loses it all and hits rock-bottom. I guess you can check this one out if you really care a lot about the world of con men, but it is still not a satisfying take and elaboration on the subject either. So maybe only check it out if you are a huge Smith and/or Robbie fan. Otherwise skip it and you are not missing much, especially not in terms of realism and fraud as the biggest trick pulled off in here was to make audiences believe this is actually a convincing work. Thumbs down.
adonis98-743-186503
In the midst of veteran con man Nicky's latest scheme, a woman from his past - now an accomplished femme fatale - shows up and throws his plans for a loop. The first time i saw Focus i absolutely hated it but as it turned out the 2nd time was the charm the movie was awesome really funny and 2 great leading performances by Will Smith and Margot Robbie and it really doesn't surprise me that they worked again in Suicide Squad and they had such a great chemistry. This movie has a long backstory it was originally going to star Ben Affleck and Kristen Stewart but they both dropped out but i think one way or another the movie would be really great. It does have flaws tho with the ending a bit that i won't spoil but still a pretty great movie 9/10.