Confidence
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: April 25, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
11
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Confidence grooves on the giddy joy of storytelling -- on the digressive whimsy of good dialogue, on playful editing, on the ways in which con men -- and filmmakers -- psych out their victims. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Yes, it's a hyped, hip "Sting" for our times, with goatees, mousse and attitude as part of the update package. It's also Burns's best film since "Saving Private Ryan." Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
By the end of the film, everybody has been triple- and quadruple- and even quintuple-crossed, but the characters still standing all seem to be very pleased with themselves for a job well done. If only we could figure out what the job was exactly. Read full review
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
Stylish, compelling crime caper full of smoothly navigated plot twists. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Hoffman, though, is the real gas--the vet getting dopey and loopy and handsy because, hey, what the hell...The midnight cowboy rides again. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Scenes with Burns crackle with the toxic energy that makes Confidence a game worth playing. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Run the game, bow to the movies that did it better and before, keep the dialogue on the line between hard-boiled and hokey, and throw one last curveball before the lights come up. It's a con in itself, but the reward's in the playing. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Ultimately, the con we witness in the movie is almost as beautiful as the con that is the movie -- believable in the moment, too irresistible to question upon reflection and executed with invigorating confidence. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Confidence may be mannered at times, but its shell-game plot is alive with organic trickery. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
You find yourself tricked and having enjoyed the experience after all. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Crafted with flair and style, and without pretension, Confidence achieves the modest goal of being an entertaining cinematic adaptation of a B-movie script with an A-list cast. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
As pulp entertainment, Confidence is great fun and Foley's first good movie since the very different "Glengarry Glen Ross." Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Didn't see through it, though I had a rough sense of what was coming, and didn't have all that much fun. I did enjoy the movie's cheerful preoccupation with style.
70
Film ThreatKevin Carr
There are enough twists and turns in the plot, with an underlying “Trust No One” theme to keep the audience guessing. Maybe not all the way to the end, but pretty darn close. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's great to watch the cat-and-mouse of it all -- even when the movie might not be firing on all points. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Delivers a clever confidence game, if not much else. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
It all boils down to trying too hard, when everybody knows a good grift is one that appears effortless. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Best of all is Hoffman, who hasn't had this much obvious fun since he played Hollywood producer Stanley Motss in "Wag the Dog." Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Even with Burns' smoothest performance yet as a lead, Confidence is on a level with Steven Soderbergh's blah remake of "Ocean's Eleven." But because no one is expecting much, it seems a little better. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Even as trick movies go, Confidence feels surfacey to a fault. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Paul Giamatti steals the picture as a sardonic grifter with a phobic terror of dirty toilet seats. Read full review
60
Film ThreatK.J. Doughton
Despite its handsome cinematography, slathered in thick, neo-noir shades of red and blue, the film has no one to root for. Place your bets on Hoffman’s terrific portrayal of a weasely, wisecracking pervert, however, and you’re sure to get your money’s worth. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The cast — a felicitous blend of character actors and up-and-comers — work together like a street-smart machine, and Hoffman's scummy turn as porn-peddler and all-around creep King is a reminder of just how sleazily funny he can be. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Does have a large and capable cast and, in James Foley, a director with a taste for visual flourishes. They all so fell in love with the script by Doug Jung they didn't notice how much a derivative retread it is of superior material like "The Grifters" and even "The Sting." Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The combination of emotional anemia, predictable plotting and tepid language makes what might have been a crackerjack treat play like a soggy piece of popcorn. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It fails to make us care, even a little, about the characters and what happens to them. There is nothing at stake. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
A stale pastiche of crime-caper dramas that goes through all the usual reversals, betrayals and triple-crosses with a sense of weary obligation. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Confidence is "The Sting" without period appeal, humor, the charisma of Robert Redford or Paul Newman and the quietly seething villainy of Robert Shaw. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Confidence doesn't provide anything substantial to latch on to: Its twists and turns aren't founded on the trust needed to pull them off. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDana Stevens
If Confidence was made by people who have seen too many movies, it seems to be aimed at people who have seen too few. It offers up stale lessons in vocabulary and technique, all of them easily gleaned on a trip to the video store, as if they were choice bits of inside knowledge. Read full review
40
SalonCharles Taylor
A long plod to the finish line. It's a movie about a long con that, like its leading man, has no wit or style to speak of. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
Features all too much footage of the scowling Burns, who has a narrower range than almost any actor working in Hollywood these days. Read full review
30
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
Cynically accumulates plot twists while showing little regard for suspense or audience sophistication. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The film is as tricky and superficial as its low-life characters, using visual flimflam to mask its lack of substance. Read full review
20
SlateDavid Edelstein
Hordes of good actors evidently lined up to appear in Confidence, which wastes Weisz, Guzman, Logue, Forster, and Paul Giamatti, among others. Midway through, a grizzled Andy Garcia shambles in, chewing on a cigar, as an FBI agent; he's so fatuously hammy that his true narrative function is never in doubt. Read full review
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