Calling a film “Confidence” is tantamount to calling it “Drama” or “Romance.” The con-game film, classically exemplified by “The Sting,” has become its own genre, and many a recent addition has been made to the confidence-movie roll call. Does it ask too much of a film, double meanings aside, to name it for the genre of which it is a part?
Maybe. Though entertaining, “Confidence” breaks no new ground and lacks the distinctiveness of its contemporaries.
It is disappointing that director James Foley (“Glengarry Glen Ross”) failed to insert more originality into his assembly of the film. Then again, the derivative nature of his direction does make “Confidence” an appropriate reference point for the genre.
Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 “Ocean’s Eleven” remake took the essence of the old-time con-game movie and gave it a new wardrobe with tight, MTV editing and a digital gloss. “Confidence” has a remarkably similar flow and rhythm.
The excessively stylized characters in the films of Guy Ritchie invariably grope to a cosmic alignment as his Gordian-knot plots become severed. The multitude of hints and clues and semi-random interactions in “Confidence” reach a conclusion in a reminiscent, if slightly more linear, manner.
Foley borrows from these two examples, among others, and thus treads the delicate line between “genre” and “generic.” With good performances from his cast and a fairly well-thought-out plot, he manages to stay clear of mediocrity. At the same time, he is saddled with a less-than-stellar script; it is loaded with lines that are devised to make the characters seem clever but end up sounding more like clever lines than real dialogue.
But the ultimate goal of a confidence film must be cleverness and believability of the plot. On that level, “Confidence” is successful.
Edward Burns (“Saving Private Ryan”) is the film’s central figure, giving us the story largely via flashback voiceover. This overused technique is fairly effective here because Burns’ grifter character is fairly compelling — when he isn’t exuding a bit too much of the film’s titular trait.
There are other decent performances, notably from a well-disguised Andy Garcia (“Ocean’s Eleven”), impressively subtle as rumpled Federal Agent Gunther Butan, who shares a past with Burns’ Jake Vig. But the role to remember for next year’s Best Supporting Actor awards is Dustin Hoffman, playing the slimiest role of his storied career.
Too often, in this film and so many others, characters are given unconvincing bits of business and overblown traits and tics to make them seem complex. In contrast, Hoffman’s criminal kingpin — “The King” — is frighteningly real, both disturbed and disturbing.
It is not a latter-day-Brando-esque performance, which becomes real by achieving complete absurdity. Instead, it is a real-but-highly-eccentric characterization. We are given bits and pieces of what makes him who and what he is, but the reality of the character transcends simple explanations.
Because his performance holds the film together and keeps the audience interested, “Confidence” is really Hoffman’s film. He appears only sporadically, but we wait anxiously for each appearance.
Like so many films that try to be very clever, there are moments when this film’s own conceit almost stops us from caring what happens to the characters. “Confidence” tries a little too hard at times to seem exceptional instead of just enjoyable. Hoffman’s performance and the film’s satisfying conclusion keep “Confidence” from failing. It is not the quintessential con-game movie, but it is an adequate addition to the genre.
Grade: B
