MOVIE REVIEW: Focus

The movie trailer did not give justice to Focus - it is actually a fun crime/caper comedy that puts Will Smith back in the game after some lackluster films (After Earth, Seven Pounds and that awful Winter's Tale anyone?). He plays Nicky, a 3rd generation con artist who trains a neophyte (Margot Robbie, on a roll after The Wolf of Wall Street) under her wings and eventually falls in love with. 

The film basically shows the pair dealing on with different groups that they live and thrive on from football games to auto racing. 

Smith and Robbie are joined by terrific character actors such as Major Dad and House of Cards' Gerald McRaney, Rodrigo Santoro (300), BD Wong (Father of the Bride) and scene stealer Adrian Martinez as Nicky's fellow conman and friend Farhad. As the title suggests, with a lot of things happening and each character trying to outsmart each other, one and even us the audience shouldn't lose focus. 

Credit should also be given to the film for choosing Argentina as one of it's locations - the only memory I have of the South American country in movie pop culture was in Evita. Buenos Aires was photographed well and it reminded us that there's more in that continent than Brazil alone. 

Focus is written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the team who made the highly entertaining and smart comedies I Love You Phillip Morris and Crazy, Stupid, Love.

MOVIE REVIEW: McFarland USA

McFarland USA, the latest true to life sports inspirational film produced by Disney is the story of the 1987 McFarland, California High School cross country team coached by Jim White (Kevin Costner), who moved into town after being fired as a football coach in Boise, Idaho after being hot-headed and physical with one its student player.

The Hispanic dominated town of McFarland is a 360 turn for him, his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) and their two daughters Julie (Morgan Saylor) and Jamie (Elsie Fisher). On their first dinner night out, the family went into the neighborhood Taqueria and were amazed and bewildered by it's menu and asked for the usual burger when they don't know what to order. They also had to overcome the usual character stereotypes for Hispanic folks and in true Disney fashion won them over by their openness and kindness in such an impoverished town whose students leave school early to work and help their parents in the field after doing the same thing before going to school early in the morning.

When Coach White or Blanco as the people in the town would call him, saw the potential of some of its students in running, he proposed to the high school principal (Valente Rodriguez) to create a cross country team for the school and focus on it instead of having a football team, hesitant at first but gave in the end, White formed a group of students to train and set it sights at the State Championship.

We have seen the underdog sports story before in films also produced by Disney such as Cool Runnings, Miracle, The Rookie and Invincible but ably directed by Niki Caro who helmed the Oscar nominated films Whale Rider and North Country, McFarland USA succeeds as a sports film anchored by Kevin Costner's performance. After Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, this is his best sports film compared to the recent Draft Day and Talent for the Game. We also see the Central California that we rarely see in the movies and the struggles of its mostly Hispanic residents who rely on picking fruits, nuts and vegetables on the field for their daily survival. This is the first feel good movie of 2015 and it deserves to be seen by many to be inspired.