I haven't seen it yet, but I read the book. Ebert & Roper give the movie with Nicholas Cage and Sam Rockwell "two thumbs way up!"
It's a good book, but I was surprised at how simplistic or even misinformed some of the magic-related scams were as described. Especially a description of Three Card Monte where the operator pulls a card out of his sleeve!@#$?
Anyone seen this movie yet?
Robert McDaniel
Matchstick Men
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Re: Matchstick Men
Yep, saw it last night.
The Monte stuff (which I assume is in the book) did not make it into the movie. It's pretty much all money scams.
I liked it very much. Cage showed, I think, a very empathetic understanding of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman were both very good.
The Monte stuff (which I assume is in the book) did not make it into the movie. It's pretty much all money scams.
I liked it very much. Cage showed, I think, a very empathetic understanding of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman were both very good.
Re: Matchstick Men
Nicholas and Ted Griffin... the screenwriers for the Matchstick Men (and the re-make of Oceans Eleven) are the sons of a good friend of mine. I have met Nick and Ted a few times, and maybe next time I see them will offer my "expert" advice on any magic or scam scenes they might be working on.
:D
:D
Stay tooned.
Re: Matchstick Men
Is Matchtick Man a term for a con artist? I've not heard the expression before, which doesn't mean much.
Steve V
Steve V
Steve V
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Re: Matchstick Men
I wondered the same thing. Nothing at all is made of that term in the movie, aside from a brief visual near the end.Is Matchtick Man a term for a con artist? I've not heard the expression before, which doesn't mean much.
Re: Matchstick Men
As I understand it, it's a regional idiom that's slowly migrating down from Canada and the East Coast.Originally posted by Dave Shepherd:
I wondered the same thing. Nothing at all is made of that term in the movie, aside from a brief visual near the end.Is Matchtick Man a term for a con artist? I've not heard the expression before, which doesn't mean much.
But I could be wrong.
Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://www.leedarrow.com
Re: Matchstick Men
I haven't seen the movie, but a clip shown on a TV show showed Cage telling his daughter: "Yeah, I'm a matchstick man--con man, scam artist, whatever."Nothing at all is made of that term in the movie, aside from a brief visual near the end. [/QB]
Re: Matchstick Men
I haven't seen the movie but just finished the book. I thought the book was very slow reading and the cons/scams described were not that interesting (except the ending).
If the author was trying to be accurate in his descriptions of the cons, he lost me when he described a three card monte scene. This apparently did not make it into the movie, but the description in the book was unlike any monte game I've ever heard of. Perhaps to a lay person it might sound plausible but to anyone with any knowledge of three card monte (and I am not an expert) it was unrealistic.
David Grand
If the author was trying to be accurate in his descriptions of the cons, he lost me when he described a three card monte scene. This apparently did not make it into the movie, but the description in the book was unlike any monte game I've ever heard of. Perhaps to a lay person it might sound plausible but to anyone with any knowledge of three card monte (and I am not an expert) it was unrealistic.
David Grand