Matchstick Media

WARNING: This entry contains spoilers for the movie “Matchstick Men.” If you care about that sort of thing then you shouldn’t read this until you’ve seen the movie. (It is definitely worth seeing, by the way.)

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On NPR this weekend – I forget which show – they were talking about “Matchstick Men” and how it was about partly about a father discovering and getting to know the teenage daughter he didn’t realize he had. This makes sense if you’ve seen the previews, but once you’ve seen the movie you realize that that’s not at all what the movie is about. It’s actually about a con man falling for the mother of all cons. She ain’t his daughter. I’ve also seen “Matchstick Men” referred to as a “buddy” movie, which again makes sense based on the promo material but is, in fact, completely false. As Roy discovers, Frank isn’t his friend – just a protégé who uses his skills to dupe his teacher.

Something weird and a little unhealthy is going on here. Obviously, early reviews and discussion about a film shouldn’t give away its ending. This makes it difficult to talk about “Matchstick Men,” or other movies that include suprirse reversals. But since the media machine demands Entertainment Weekly, Hollywood.com, NPR, and Charlie Rose to say something, we get this situation where they’re talking, not about the actual movie, but about the general impression of the movie created by its own promotional materials. Basically, they’re discussing the preview.

The movie is about parenthood to a certain extent – Roy definitely believes himself to be a father, and Angela, despite the fact that she’s running a con, embraces her daughter role wholeheartedly. (We know this because there are scenes with her when Roy isn’t present. Alone in his house, she doesn’t drop character, but frolics curiously around, eating ice cream.) There’s actually a delicate interplay among roles, perceived roles, false emotions, and stifled emotions that informs all the characters and gives the movie surprising depth for a con-job comedy. The only problem with that, from a media perspective, is that you can’t talk about it right away. It’s a shame that the response to that fact can’t be not to talk about it right away. Sadly, the laws of hype demand otherwise.