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Jake Vig (Edward Burns) and his partners in-crime Miles (Brian Van Holt), Gordo (Paul Giamatti),
and Al (Louis Lombardi) have successfully staged fake murders to scare the wits out of criminals' bagmen who'd run away leaving behind their loot. One time, the money they
steal happens to belong to Mr. King (Dustin Hoffman) a much feared crime lord, who signals his displeasure by putting a bullet through Al's forehead. Jakes decides to
mollify Mr. King's feelings by offering to give back the money. But first, Mr. King must supply him with $200,000 to initially fund a $5 million scam that Jake is
planning. Jake intends to swindle Morgan Price, King's rival. King accedes but he wants his man Lupus (Franky G.) to join the criminals to watch Jake's every
move. Jake takes in Lily (Rachel Weisz) as part of the con group. Every thing goes as planned but two corrupt cops and a Federal agent Gunther Butan (Andy Garcia) who
has been on the trail of Jake for years, appear at a crucial time and present a real threat to their plans.
Confidence is a cleverly made crime story that requires the viewer's full attention to follow every twist and turn of this narrative that seems to unravel one surprise after another till the end. Jake narrates the story including his well-planned and complicated "robbery" through flashbacks. Film director James Foley has imbued his noir material with color in a proliferation of reds and blues and has propelled it to a fast energetic pace. Edward Burns and the support cast give life to their roles but Dustin Hoffman as the dishevelled, quirky gum-chewing crime lord outdoes himself as he gives another brilliant performance, though in a supporting role.
Confidence is a crime story, through and through. Aside from the film's visuals which give the viewer a fairly good idea of the physical world of crime with its sleazy joints, exploited girls and dark streets, all the characters are crooks, most of them rapidly spewing vulgarities. Among the characters, not one can appeal to our sense of nobility or honesty. This is a movie that glorifies criminals who get away unpunished. We often hear people complain or wonder about how brazen criminals have become. The answer most probably can be found in the kind of models they see in movies like this, where there is rampant corruption, bribery, lying, swindling and clever manipulation of people and where the criminals get to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth. Have some producers forgotten their sense of social responsibility?
(Date Reviewed: 18 March 2005)
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