Well in case you were wondering where Will Smith went, we found him! He’s back in the first trailer for his new film “Focus.” There are too many shameless puns to try with this one, so I’ll get to the trailer itself.
Will Smith has always been a fun guy to watch with a decent emotional range in my opinion, and his co-star Margot Robbie here is easy on the eyes to say the least. With these two in the lead, this film immediately had my attention.
When the scene opens with a medium close-up of a profile of a random actor angrily driving a car, it makes one wonder…what is he about to hit? Well he’s aiming for Nicky (Smith) and Jess (Robbie), whom he successfully T-bones in their beautiful sports car. Judging by the following voiceover from Nicky of “That’s what you get when you hire a con man,” the car was probably stolen anyway. Right from the start we understand that Nicky and Jess are in the middle of deep stuff, the tone and cinematography leading us to believe we’re in for a serious dramatic story. However, it’s immediately followed by a scene in which we’ve apparently back tracked to when Nicky first met Jess. In a hilarious exchange, Jess gives him her best attempt at seduction, to which he says “Does that feel sexy on your face?” So, a con-dram-edy? That’s a little confusing.
We soon see Jess in training and Nicky becoming impressed, saying she’s become one of the best. So now apparently she’s ready for the “big con.” Well as one may expect in such a dramatic story with two sexy, charismatic characters making a living on making people fall for them, things get sticky when they develop feelings for each other. To be honest, the trailer wraps up in a bit of a hurry and it’s not clear where the story goes, but it doesn’t seem to end super well…hence the con drama of it all.
Overall, the only reason I really want to see this film is for the very reason I stated earlier, which is the two leads. I always like Will Smith and although I have yet to see Robbie in anything, her dramatic and comedic acting chops are portrayed really well in this trailer. If anything, it feels like more of a vehicle for her than anything. I also didn’t feel that the comedy meshed well with what feels like it should be a very dark film about a hopeless romance.
Either way, I feel like we’ve seen this before, but hopefully the acting will be able to hold the film rise above the mundane!
Find out next year when “Focus” hits theatres!
