Taglines: Never drop the con.
Nicky Spurgeon is a seasoned con-man who becomes romantically involved with a young attractive woman; however, while introducing her to the tricks of his con man trade, she gets too close for comfort and he abruptly breaks it off. Three years later, the former flame—now an accomplished femme fatale—shows up in Buenos Aires, as the opposing side of the same scam: a billionaire international race car owner. In the midst of Nicky’s latest, most dangerous scheme, she throws his plans for a loop… and consummate the con man off his game.
Focus is an American romantic comedy-drama film. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa directed the film from a script they co-wrote. Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Rodrigo Santoro are the lead stars of the film. The film will be released on February 27, 2015.
About the Story
Seasoned con-man Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith) goes to an upscale restaurant, where an inexperienced grifter, Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), seduces him, and then pretends they’ve been caught by her jealous husband. When the deception fails, Nicky advises them never to lose focus when faced with unexpected situations. Jess finds him in another nightclub a few days later and convinces Nicky to become her mentor. Nicky tells her about how his father, a con man named Bucky Spurgeon, was forced to shoot his grandfather when a con went wrong, a maneuver he calls “the Toledo Panic Button”.
Jess follows Nick to New Orleans, where she is introduced to Nicky’s crew, including the obese and profane Farhad (Adrian Martinez). She picks a few pockets as a test, and soon Nicky and Jess develop a romantic relationship, upsetting Nicky, who was taught by his father to never become emotionally involved with anyone in their line of business. At the 17th Associated Football Franchise of America Championship Game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Nicky gets into a round of increasingly extravagant bets with gambler Liyuan Tse (B.D. Wong), eventually losing all of the money the crew has earned.
To win it back, Nicky asks Tse to pick any player off the field and says that Jess will guess the number picked. A distraught Jess scans the field and notices Farhad wearing jersey number 55 and realizes it is another con. They take Tse for millions of dollars, but Nicky, wary of his growing emotional involvement, leaves Jess by the side of the road with her cut.
Three years later, Nicky is in Buenos Aires, working for billionaire motorsport team owner Rafael Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro). Garriga needs to beat a team headed by Australian businessman McEwen (Robert Taylor) to win the championship. Nicky will pretend to be a disgruntled technician on Garriga’s team willing to sell Garriga’s custom fuel use algorithm EXR. Instead he will sell McEwen a bogus version which will slow their car down during the race. At a pre-race party, Nicky runs into Jess, who is now Garriga’s girlfriend. Nicky has a convincing fight with Garriga in public and is recruited by McEwen to provide the component.
Nicky begins pursuing Jess again, and they eventually rekindle their relationship. The head of Garriga’s security entourage, Owens (Gerald McRaney), is suspicious and narrowly misses catching the two together. Nicky delivers the component to McEwen for three million euros but also sells it to the other teams for similar amounts.
Focus
Directed by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro, Gerald McRaney, Adrian Martinez, Laura Flannery, Stephanie Honoré
Screenplay by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Production Design by: Beth Mickle
Cinematography by: Xavier Grobet
Film Editing by: Jan Kovac
Costume Design by: Dayna Pink
Set Decoration by: Lisa K. Sessions
Art Direction by: Kelly Curley
Music by: Nick Urata
MPAA Rating: R for language, some sexual content and brief violence.
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: February 25, 2015
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