I chose the movie Matchstick Men to review for my final blog post, because obsessive compulsive disorder has always intrigued me. I rented it because even though me and Nick Cage have had our differences, an early one of his flicks with Sam Rockwell, and Ridley Scott sounded good. Matchstick Men gives you Nicholas Cage as Roy, the protagonist of the movie. Roy is an antisocial con artist who basically only has one human connection, with his business associate Frank. Sam Rockwell plays Frank, Roy's partner in crime and possibly the only person that he sees on a regular basis, with the exception of a grocery store clerk who Roy refuses to acknowledge despite her friendliness towards him. Frank is the opposite of Roy he is dirty, talkative and very laid back.
As the first act of the film develops Roy's abnormal behavior is displayed via his over cleanliness, chain smoking, tense agitated status and the reference to the pills that he should be taking. The first con job that you see is initially portrayed as if they are officers investigating the victims of a sweepstakes scam. In reality Roy and Frank committed the scam and are following up on it to get banking information. It's fairly genius and you feel sympathetic for the suckers yet impressed by the cleverness of the con, but then Roy's disorder is triggered by a door that has been left open. The job is almost botched by Roy's disability to ignore the anxiety that this open door is causing him, and you realize the severity of his disorder.
Roy's behavior is a perfect example of OCD. He shows certain ritualistic patterns such as the opening and closing of doors several times before shutting them. He has a substantial amount of cleaning products organized neatly in a closet and frantically cleans for long periods of time. At one point Roy says “the only thing keeping me from blowing my brains out is the thought of what it would do to my carpet” which is illustrating the intensity of his mental illness. In addition to his OCD he shows symptoms of a social phobia. He confesses that he hasn't had an intimate relationship in over fifteen years. When a doctor tries to make Roy have a psychiatric evaluation to determine his need for prescription medicine he is repulsed by the thought of long talks with another person. He routinely shops at a grocery store where the clerk attempts to converse with him, but Roy consistently avoids interaction with her. His business partner Frank is usually unsuccessful in his effort to be better friends with Roy.
In the second act of the film a young girl Angela is introduced. She claims to be Roy's daughter and Roy is uncertain why his ex wouldn't have told him about her pregnancy. Angela is a rebellious girl who is unhappy living with her mother, and would rather live with Roy. Angela and Roy start off with an awkward relationship partly because of their lack of knowledge of each other, as well as Roy's social difficulties. Once Angela discovers Roy's true job as a con artist she is not only alright with it, she wants to help and does. This is when Roy starts to connect with somebody for the first time in years, and starts to feel the anxiety slightly lifted.
The third act involves a job gone wrong and throws a twist that no honest person could see coming. I really enjoyed it even though it seemed like it was desperately trying to achieve the end twist that so many movies post Usual Suspects have attempted. Which by the way if you haven't seen Usual Suspects forget this movie and watch that. I give Matchstick Men 3/4 stars which might be generous, but I have a hard time not finding the good in things.
The third act involves a job gone wrong and throws a twist that no honest person could see coming. I really enjoyed it even though it seemed like it was desperately trying to achieve the end twist that so many movies post Usual Suspects have attempted. Which by the way if you haven't seen Usual Suspects forget this movie and watch that. I give Matchstick Men 3/4 stars which might be generous, but I have a hard time not finding the good in things.
