Matchstick Men (2003) Ridley Scott
Section 1
The film Matchstick Men (2003) by Ridley Scott is about two professional con artists, Roy and Frank. The main character Roy has some emotional problems such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Agoraphobia and Mysophobia. Frank is his ambitious apprentice, and they are really good partners in any swindling activity. Roy and Frank swindle people’s money by selling water filtration systems for $700 that could be bought for $50 at any hardware store. In addition, they also swindle people’s money through package vacations, prizes and tax refunds. Since Roy has OCD that becomes more serious, he finds psychotherapist Dr. Klein to help him with his disorders. In the conversations between Roy and Dr. Klein, Roy mentioned his troubled marriage, and that he might have a child, he has never met. Roy asks Dr. Klein to contact his wife, Heather. However, Dr. Klein tells Roy that his ex-wife is not interested to talk with him, but his daughter Angela is. Unusually, Angela wants to meet her father whom she never knew. Then, Dr. Klein suggests Roy to spend some time with his daughter. Roy’s life and things begin to change after he meets his fourteen year old daughter. Roy starts to bring her into his world; a world filled with full of lies. Initially he does not want to disclose his profession to his daughter, because he wants to be a responsible father. However, she starts working with him, and learns to con. Roy starts learning to be a responsible father, but he never imagined that his partner Frank would swindle him one day and everything that happened to him was deceptive.
Section 2
The film Matchstick Men by Ridley Scott released in 2003. Comparing the films of this genre, I think this film is very successful. To sum up the complete movie in one word, I would say it is “Awesome”. In my opinion the actors have displayed great acting skills, providing justice to their respective roles. Nicolas Cage did a great job by playing Roy, a person who has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Agoraphobia and Mysophobia. His activities of opening or closing a door 3 times, and using the antibacterial cleaning spray to keep the house clean shows his disorder in a perfect manner. In my view it is difficult to enact the role of a person with multiple disorders, and it is tough to act as Roy, as it requires lots of facial expressions, and eye movements. I believe it is the actors and the story-line that surprised everyone, and I consider that other films, such as American Beauty cannot match the theme of Matchstick Men.
The sound variation is quite effective as the background music is synchronized with the various scenes in the movie. For example, in one of the funny scenes I could hear brisk sounds (0:55.35). Also, the sad scenes are represented with depressing sounds (1:44:15). The flowing water sound is always played whenever Roy meets Dr.Klein, and this sound is very soothing. I think the different sounds presented at different moments deeply effect the emotions of the viewers, and draw viewer’s attention. I also noticed that the cinematography projects a graphical perception of the psychological condition of Roy’s character that improves the visual experience.
Roy’s disorder of shutting the doors quite often and blinking of the left eye when excited or depressed is very symbolic. In my viewpoint, the symbolism that is carried all through the movie is friendly deception, mystification and emotional attachment. Viewers become emotionally engrossed in the growing connection between father and the manipulative daughter through the actors’ performances. The overall theme of the movie is to con honest people and make money, and this is represented through clever twists and turns. The disorder of OCD and Agoraphobia, such as blinking of the left eye, getting restless in absence of pills and unwilling to be outdoors is symbolized throughout the movie.
In addition, the climax of the film really surprised me, because I never thought that Roy would be swindled by Frank. It was hard to believe that Angela, the doctor and all the things were counterfeited. The difficulty in guessing the last part of the film is also one of the reasons why I think this film is good.
