Focus (2015)

Perfect cast and a good story

Excellent but underrated film

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Focus What a shame. The first half of this flick is actually entertaining and fun. The mid-movie climax should have been the final climax. Or they should have just built the film around taking down the big mid-flick mark. Whatever, the only thing that matters is that the film is entertaining, which it is. But like I said before, the second half of the film does disappoint and fall flat, just to set up some stupid twist that nobody cares about. 6/10

This is almost a chick flick. Probably few good things: the acting of Gerald McRaney and the sexy curves and beautiful eyes of Margot Robbie. But that doesn't redeem the movie, the plot is silly and if there are any surprises, they are mild and in the end the movie leaves you with nothing to remember it for. It's just one of those very forgettable romantic comedies. If you like those and are satisfied with low-key entertainment then it's fine. But f you're looking for more than this is not your movie.

Okay, I'll admit one of my main reasons for watching 'Focus' is because I saw Will Smith and Margot Robbie in 'Suicide Squad' and thought they were the best part about it. It was only then that I found out they'd already starred together in a crime-caper and, based on their super-villain chemistry, thought it would probably be worth a watch. And I was pleasantly surprised… to begin with.Smith plays a suave conman who stumbles on a not-so-suave conwoman, played by Robbie. However, she is endearing to him enough for him to feel like he needs to take her under his wing and teach her to refine her scamming ways in order to keep her out from the law's reach just that little bit longer. Luckily for him (and the speed of the narrative!) she takes to it pretty quickly and in a matter of seconds (well, 'screen-time' seconds anyway!) she's as much of a pro as he is. And so, he inducts her into his gang and off they go scamming people during a big festival-type event.And I was quite enjoying this. Yes, you do kind of have to leave the fact that, despite their charming exteriors and witty quips, these are criminals and although it's quite fun and cool to watch them 'work' we'd most likely be a little less tolerant if one of them lifted our camera while they pretended to ask for directions in a crowded public place. Anyway, it was fun seeing them scam – even if it does serve as a warning to watch out for these types of people and the tricks of their trade which allow them to operate.However, about a third of the way through the film everything changes. The group goes their separate ways after their major scam is complete. After this, everything sort of slows down. There's only really one storyline going on which – obviously – centres on our two attractive leads and the single scam that's now taking place. It was about this time that I stopped watching intently and enjoying the light-hearted caper and had that burning desire to check my emails on my phone. That's what happens to the plot – it sort of drifts away from you and you stop really paying attention. I think I may have checked Instagram once or twice during the second act and I'm pretty certain that I didn't miss much. It becomes the sort of film where you can quite easily nip out for a cup of tea and you won't really have missed anything vital.Overall, 'Focus' isn't a bad film. I really enjoyed the first half and the chemistry and coolness-factor of the two leads just about took me through the rest of it. I'm not sure how often I'd bother watching it again. I could probably go many years before really bothering to invest another couple of hours on this one. Definitely one of those films where you're better off watching it for free on one of the internet's 'streaming' services rather than buying the Blu-ray at full price.The first half I'd rate 7/10 and the second half just 6/10, but overall I'm feeling generous!

I really would like to give you my review about the part BD Wong played in the movie Focus, and I hope you will place it on IMDb.com for everybody to read.As a partly Surinam/partly Dutch 50 year old woman and absolute filmfan, living in the Netherlands, I have seen quite a lot of movies, mainstream or not, documentary, art-house movies, it doesn't matter, I find almost everything interesting. Two years ago, 2015, I've seen about 300 movies, if not more . . .In the movie "Focus" all elements were superb : the script, the actors, the director, the cameracrew and the music. It was one big, beautiful symphony, like perfectly braided hair.AND in particular, I have never – and I mean NEVER EVER – seen a greater star shine in his role than BD Wong did in the movie "Focus"!!! He plays a dandy, deadserious yet humorous Asian gambler, a business man with too much money to spend , too much free time apparently to spend it, and nobody to stop him from acting like a child when he doesn't get what he wants and setting him straight when crossing the line.I say BD Wong outplayed everybody in this movie, even Will Smith and Margot Robbie, who acted great also and shared some sort of rare chemistry, seldom seen, like between Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. But BD Wong outshines them all. I mean, he got his 15 minutes to play and by God, did he play! He deserves an Oscar for this role because you don't see BD Wong, but you see only his character, Liyuan, and I think not even the script writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa could have dreamt of a better performer than actor BD Wong for this small yet utterly well played part. (together with a defining good choice of music and camera shooting angles). In Holland (and France), when somebody excels so greatly, we say "Chapeau!". So here's to my new movie hero, whose beautiful voice I also LOVED in "Mulan", mister BD Wong : Chapeau!