Focus, the latest Will Smith movie, is now the top film at the North American box office, so moviegoers must actually love it. What about critics? They have made their voices heard, and from what we can tell, it's a love and hate affair for this film.
The star power of Will Smith is what Warner Bros. is counting on to get this movie to earn over $100 million worldwide. We expect this to happen. If not, then it is a sign that Smith is losing his star power and needs to work hard to regain it.
Let's take a look at what critics are saying about Focus:
ABC: Focus is, overall, entertaining and surprisingly unpredictable. Though when I say unpredictable, what I mean is some of the twists are imaginative. And when I say imaginative, I mean impossible. Even so, Focus provides some fun moments, though that lack of empathy for the main players ultimately makes it a less-than-satisfying experience.
Nola: The emotional payoff in Focus might not be as strong as in their previous efforts -- which notably includes screenwriting duties on 2003's Bad Santa, a film that effectively introduced Requa and Ficarra to Hollywood. It also suffers ever so slightly from an episodic rhythm that puts more emphasis on the main characters' relationship than an overarching plot. Still, the pieces click together nicely in what ends up being an overall enjoyable package.
SF Gate: .... the emotional core of the movie, the relationship between Nicky and Jess, lacks impact, mostly because you can't believe a word that they say, but also because Smith is not a strong leading man. Smith's idea of playing romance is to act cool, and his idea of playing cool is to act withdrawn and serious. That means the eclipse of the thing that made him a movie star in the first place, his personality.
It's interesting how SF Gate says Smith is not a good leading man. We've noticed over the years that he tends to have one style of acting, but no one notices because it delivers. However, we saw a different side of Smith in Seven Pounds and in The Pursuit of Happyness.
