'Focus': What are critics saying about the new Will Smith movie?
'Focus' stars Will Smith as a con man and Margot Robbie of 'The Wolf of Wall Street' as his protege. The movie will be released on Feb. 27.
'Focus' stars Will Smith as a con man and Margot Robbie of 'The Wolf of Wall Street' as his protege. The movie will be released on Feb. 27.
What are reviewers saying about the upcoming movie 鈥淔ocus鈥� starring Will Smith and 鈥淭he Wolf of Wall Street鈥� actress Margot Robbie?
鈥淔ocus,鈥� which comes to theaters on Feb. 27, stars Mr. Smith as a con artist whose ex (Ms. Robbie), who鈥檚 also very good with such schemes, shows up while he鈥檚 in the middle of a particularly complicated plan involving car racing.聽
So far, the film is receiving mixed reviews and currently holds a score of 61 out of 100 on review aggregator website Metacritic.聽
Entertainment Weekly critic Chris Nashawaty gave the movie a B grade, calling it 鈥渇airly predictable.鈥�
鈥淚nstead of making you dizzy with the kind of smart double crosses that leave you patting for your wallet on the way out of the theater, it just piles on more and more twists, each more implausible than the last,鈥� Nashawaty wrote. 鈥淲hat keeps the film humming along as smoothly as it does is the chemistry and charisma of its leads.鈥�
And Variety critic Peter Debruge found the movie to be 鈥渟uave but slight.鈥�
鈥淚f the filmmakers have convinced us of anything鈥� it鈥檚 that they鈥檙e working even harder than the characters are to deceive us,鈥� Debruge wrote. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice change to see Smith unsettled, and Robbie, who wields the upper hand for the better part of the movie, more than holds her own in every scene鈥� While not quite the 'art' it鈥檚 billed to be, if the perfect con is about diverting one鈥檚 focus, then this one keeps you distracted 鈥檛il聽the end.鈥�
Meanwhile, A.V. Club writer Ignatiy Vishnevetsky gave the movie a C+ grade.
鈥淔ocus鈥� problem isn鈥檛 that its stars lack charm, but that it鈥檚 squeezed into tight spaces between protracted explanations of setups, backstories, and twists,鈥� Vishnevetsky wrote. 鈥淭hough its doesn鈥檛 connect as a whole,聽Focus聽has its share of bright spots.鈥�
And Hollywood Reporter writer Todd McCarthy found the movie to have 鈥渓ittle sizzle.鈥�
鈥淸The movie] plays more like an inventory of thieving and gambling techniques than a captivating diversion, even if it's hard not to be voyeuristically pulled in by some of its ruses,鈥� McCarthy wrote. 鈥淯nfortunately, since the major characters' salient character traits are insincerity, opaqueness and untruthfulness, it's hard to invest much interest in any of them鈥� [But[ Robbie builds on the strong impression she made in The Wolf of Wall Street a year ago with a vigorous and, it must be said, highly watchable turn as a promising student made good.鈥�