Will Smith is back. And gosh, has it been a while coming. In an unabashed throwback to his Hitch days, Focus has Smith doing what he does best. He’s smooth, he’s attractive, he’s funny and oh yeah, he’s the best con man West of Vegas. After a forgettable run of films that ended with the jaded After Earth (MIB-2 was tolerable), he’s finally struck gold in a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously as a heist drama or attempts to find itself a niche. After a failed con job on him, Jess Barrett (the tantalisingly blonde Margot Robbie) asks the nimbler Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith) to teach her the tricks of the trade. After bedazzling her with his sleight of hand, he ropes her in for a week of pick-pocketing, card cloning and general consmanship along with his eccentric crew. After a intense and passionate affair with her (and a killer con on a gambling crazy Asian businessman that’s reminiscent of the Ocean’s movies) he drops her like a hot potato - love, his daddy always said, could get you shot in this game.
One final heist. And a will-he-get-the-girl-or-won’t-he premise is good enough to keep you engaged the rest of the way. If you thought that Smith and Robbie were hot enough to keep you seated with their smoldering, hot chemistry, wait till you see them try to out-con each other. Funny, heart-breaking and just the right amount of danger keeps Focus from letting your eyes turn bleary - all the way through to the ‘aww’ moments at the end. You’ve got to wonder why he doesn’t do these movies more often. Really.