Some cons rely on sleight of hand.
Focus relies on charisma.
Written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love.), the 2015 crime-romance trades suburban emotional entanglements for professional deception. The throughline remains the same: attraction as manipulation, love as strategy. Only now, the stakes come with wire transfers.
It’s polished. It’s playful. It’s rarely profound.
Will Smith, Back in Control
Will Smith plays Nicky Spurgeon, a veteran con artist who treats distraction like choreography. This is Smith in measured mode—less bombastic than Bad Boys, smoother than Hitch. He understands the value of restraint here. Confidence is quieter when it’s real.
The film’s early New Orleans sequence—an orchestrated mass pickpocket operation—is the high point. It’s precise, kinetic, and deliciously smug. For a moment, Focus feels like it might genuinely outmaneuver its audience.
It never quite does. But it looks good trying.
Margot Robbie, Calculated Magnetism
Margot Robbie plays Jess, an ambitious grifter who is either learning the game or rewriting it. Robbie matches Smith’s cool with sharp, watchful intelligence. Their chemistry is easy, which is crucial in a film where romance is indistinguishable from strategy.
This was pre-I, Tonya Robbie—still ascending, but already radiating control.
And crucially, she’s never reduced to apprentice status. Jess may be the student. She’s not naïve.
Surface Tension
Ficarra and Requa, whose previous work thrived on emotional chess matches, apply the same dynamic here—but the film is more interested in gloss than psychological excavation. Buenos Aires glows. Suits are immaculate. The camera glides.
The second half escalates into a corporate motorsport con that’s clever without being labyrinthine. Twists arrive, but they don’t destabilize. The film wants to be sleek, not shocking.
And it succeeds—just not deeply.
The Illusion of Depth
At its core, Focus is about attention. Where you’re looking. Who controls the narrative. Who believes they’re the smartest person in the room.
But it never fully interrogates ego the way a sharper crime film might. It flirts with cynicism and then retreats into romance.
The con is intricate. The emotional risk less so.
The Verdict
Focus is stylish, charismatic entertainment—elevated by Will Smith and Margot Robbie’s chemistry and a few expertly executed sequences. It plays the game well. It just doesn’t raise the stakes high enough to feel dangerous.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stacked decks.
Smooth. Controlled. Slightly safe.
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