Focus: Movie Review

Playing a game that doesn't need to be played.

Focus is about getting out of the game before the game gets you. Veteran con man Nicky (Will Smith) decides to take a young, hot aspiring con woman, Jess (Margot Robbie), under his wing. And the storyline that follows is a romance where one of them is constantly trying to make the right play and the other is still learning what the right play is. But what this also means is that the movie is a crime comedy with no substantial crime stories and no comedy.		2015 Directed by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa Screenplay by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie

The Voices: Movie Review

A dark comedy that veers too far into a messy horror-comedy.

The Voices stars Ryan Reynolds as a really creepy version of a lonely everyman working at factory and shipping warehouse in a small town. He is just so clearly unhinged that when we see him talking to his pets, and they talk back to him, it's not surprising at all because no part of him lives in any kind of reality. I know the premise of a man who hears his pets talking to him is going to be a weird film, but here they just took things too far.		2014 Directed by: Marjane Satrapi Screenplay by: Michael R. Perry Starring: Ryan Renolds, Anna Kendrick and Gemma Arterton

McFarland: Movie Review

Easy to cheer for underdogs.

Disney's latest inspirational true underdog story and Kevin Costner's latest sports drama are one in the same. McFarland is actually pretty high on the inspiration and the additional family drama element provides some fun and nice humour. Set in McFarland, California in 1987, Costner stars as Jim White, a down-on-his-luck football coach who has nowhere else to go except this dirt poor southern town filled with perennially out-of-luck students.		2015 Directed by: Niki Caro Screenplay and Story by: Grant Thompson, Bettina Gilois and Christopher Cleveland Starring: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello