Focus

Will Smith is a smart and calculating business man who never takes any big risks and this is exactly why white people would have made him America's first Black president a few years ago if he had actually decided to quit movies and  run against Obama. This is also why there isn't any uproar about him seducing and sleeping with a beautiful white woman in his latest movie Focus. Remember that cereal commercial that came out a few years ago with the interracial couple talking to their daughter about the tastiness of breakfast? Well bigots and internet trolls came from out of the woodwork to protest it and once again reminded us that the only thing that will ever bring this country racial harmony is a tasty Chick Fil-A breakfast sandwich and a side of Krispy Kreme donuts in the morning.

Well in his latest safe and non threatening role, Big Willy Style plays a professional grifter who leads a team of con men to the country's biggest events in order to rob people of their personal belongings and sell them for a profit. One day he notices the knockout Jess (Margot Robbie) attempting to pull off a job of her own and decides to take her under his wing. He teaches her the basics of the game and winds up involving her in one of his biggest schemes of the year, the Super Bowl. And as you would guess, whenever two beautiful people get together for a long period of time and try and pull off something exciting together, a hot and steamy romance is formed. But something random occurs and Smith inexplicable leaves Jess only to run into her again a few years later while he's on another job. The second he sees her however, he's thrown for a loop and starts doing things that are out of character for him.

Has Jess gone straight or is she running a scheme of her own? And will Will Smith's obsession with her jeopardize his latest job or will he drop everything for her in hopes of them starting a new life together somewhere? With everyone apparently conning everyone all of the time, you can never really be sure when someone is lying or when they are telling the truth, and that's what makes the second half of this movie interesting.

The first half however is full of cheesy one liners and lame pickpocket gags, and it seems like even Smith cant believe that he signed up for this movie as he is barely attempting to act in it. There is absolutely no chemistry between him and Jess, so their love affair doesn't seem realistic at all. It also doesn't help that in this rated R movie, they don't have even one passionate love scene between the two of them. So just like 50 Shades of Grey was soft core porn for teenage girls, this movie felt like intro interracial porn for old people. If they really wanted to make their relationship seem realistic, they should have shown Jess calling her dad after every time her and Smith had sex. "I hate you daddy, so I'm having sex with a Black convict as payback!" I kid, I kid, not every father's like the dads you run into in Texas.

Anyway, if you make it past the first hour, the movie actually picks up a bit as you spend it trying to figure out who is getting over on who. Smith has a moment or two where he actually tries and the directors provide you with some beautiful shots of Argentina and its landscape.

The problem is, the movie just seems like it's an excuse for Will Smith to wear tight red pants while he's on vacation in New Orleans and South America. Without the big stars, this is nothing but a B Movie at best. The ending is laughable but it's so over the top that it makes a complete 180 and sort of becomes fresh. However the ending and the fact that this is a beautiful looking film cannot save it from getting a rating of pretty WEAK.