Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38159 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-09-16
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Bathed in self-conscious cool, Confidence is a heist caper in which the heist is unimportant. As you might expect from Glengarry Glen Ross director James Foley, this pulpy concoction is more interested in giving good actors a lot of hip, salty dialogue as they scheme their way to the royal scam. It's a poor man's Ocean's Eleven, just as enjoyable in its own way, beginning when con artist Jake (Edward Burns) discovers he's accidentally stolen from an eccentric crime boss (Dustin Hoffman, oozing threat in a fine character turn). Promising to make amends by pulling the biggest con of his career, Jake adds a feisty pickpocket (Rachel Weisz) to his crew, which includes scene-stealer Paul Giammatti and Andy Garcia as a dishevelled FBI agent (or is he?). With a cast like this you can't go wrong, but Confidence cons itself into thinking it's original, while Burns's abundant voice-overs state the obvious and plot twists unfold with minimal surprise. --Jeff Shannon

The Guardian
"A twisty, flashy con thriller in a David Mamet-meets-Quentin Tarantino vein"

Customer Reviews

Style over substance
Caper movies have been well served in the 90's and to some extent into the noughties. Movies like Ocean's Eleven, The Grifters, Heist and many others, have raised the bar for the con artist on the silver screen. `Confidence' aims high, and just scrapes over the bar, but without much room to spare.
The plot - well, it would spoil it to tell.. but even if I wanted to it would be difficult, as maze-like as it is. Suffice to say, when a con turns out to have inadvertently trodden on a ganglord's toes (Dustin Hoffman), the con-artist (Ed Burns) agrees to pull a huge job to get the money back and keep everyone happy... but who can anyone trust, and what is as it seems?
Great performances abound - the talent on display here is formidable through to the most minor of characters. However, for the most part these fantastic character actors are being called on to play parts which are by their definition artificial. It all works well for the plot, but the sheer cleverness of the whole thing does pull you out of the experience and constantly remind you that this is not real, just a movie.
Having said that, the script is fine, even if lacking that David Mamet style it so much wants to have. Dustin Hoffman in particular benefits from some juicy lines, chewing the scenery as his menacing though dwarf like ganglord with a predilection for sex of any kind. He looks for all the world like Eddy Jordan on speed, turned to a life of crime and hedonism. Ed Burns is a fine actor, but seems a little out of his depth, and Rachel Weisz plays the sexpot admirably well. In the end we do find a satisfying cleverness to the eventual proceedings - But without an investment in the characters that makes us really care one way or the other who did what to who.
It's a stylish movie, and worth watching, but one could have expected more from the talent involved. Watch it, enjoy, and forget it about 5 minutes later.

Confidence - a confident movie!
A solid thriller cum scam movie, which I can highly recommend renting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. From the start you know it'll have some twists and turns, some good character acting (Dustin Hoffman is great) and give you a treat. The ending is partially predictable - but not in the way it actually pans out, which is admirable and engaging.

The voice-over narrative keeps the pace moving along rather than interfering or providing a sense of irritation, and the whole movie looks good, sounds good and gels together well.

Emotionally flat
Watching CONFIDENCE was like visiting a fortune-teller just for the fun of it. And that's OK.

To my mind, a film's potential success has at least four determinants: the acting, the plot, the environment (created by the cinematography, soundtrack, FX, etc.), and the degree of bonding between the audience and the characters. CONFIDENCE succeeds in all but the last.

Perhaps the best incentive to see CONFIDENCE is Hoffman's portrayal of the ickiest, creepiest and most venomous character he's ever played. It may be worth a Best Supporting Actor nomination for the next Oscarfest. Burns, as well as the multitude of others in supporting roles, are adequate to advance the (admittedly clever) storyline, but none were endearing, at least to this viewer. Even the moll of the piece, Lily (Rachel Weisz), is too unrelentingly flinty to be attractive.The only character of any interest besides King is Gunther Butan (Andy Garcia), the scruffy Federal agent and Vig's ostensible nemesis, who appears to be the wild card in the evolving scam.

The director made creative use of flashbacks and visual asides to keep my in-seat interest level high.

CONFIDENCE is, ultimately, an emotionally sterile experience.