“At the end of the day, this is a game of focus.” That’s how Will Smith explains the con game to his new protégé, Margot Robbie, in the latest trailer for the very aptly-named Focus. In theaters on February 27, Focus tells the story of a “veteran grifter” who takes a sexy young woman under his wing, only to – GASP! – fall for her and wind up jeopardizing his entire career, while putting his life on the line. Despite the fact that Focus comes to us in the movie down season, which typically means bad things (see: just about every film on this year’s Worst Movies list), the presence of Smith and Robbie is more promising than something like I, Frankenstein, for example.
Still, even as I’m eager to see this, with the hopes that it’s a lot cleverer than dude likes girl, girl cons dude, dude hatches a scheme to win in the end, I watch these trailers (similar UK version below) and can’t help but think of the 2003 Edward Burns film Confidence. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but let’s at least hope for better acting.