Certificate: 15 (strong language, bloody images). Running Time: 116 mins. UK Distributor: Apple TV+
WHO’S IN IT?
Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, Briana Middleton, John Lithgow, Darren Goldstein, Phillip Johnson Richardson, Kerry Flanagan, David Pittu, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Hannah Dunne, Giullian Yao Gioiello
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Benjamin Caron (director), Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka (writers, producers), Erik Feig, Bart Freundlich, Julianne Moore and Jessica Switch (producers), Clint Mansell (composer), Charlotte Bruus Christensen (cinematographer), Yan Miles (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A wealthy New York family is targeted by a con artist…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON SHARPER?
The number of twists in director Benjamin Caron’s new con artist thriller Sharper significantly outnumbers the total amount in the last few M. Night Shyamalan movies combined, including his latest Knock at the Cabin from earlier this month (wherein its biggest twist was that there actually wasn’t one) – that metric is either a cause for concern or a sigh of relief, depending on your opinion of Shyamalan’s recent work, but in any case it’s clear that the filmmaker has a lot of catching up to do if he’s to even match the number of reveals here.
When you look past all the rug-pulling, though, Sharper is a watchable and well-made movie that holds your attention for just long enough to be interested in where it’s all going, only to finally lose track of itself when it’s time to play all its cards at once.
Told in a certain number of non-linear chapters, the film begins with young bookstore owner Tom (Justice Smith) meeting and soon falling in love with a young woman named Sandra (Briana Middleton), but as their relationship develops, she reveals that her brother owes some dangerous people an extortionate amount of money – which Tom, who happens to come from a wealthy family, nobly gives her to pay them off. Unfortunately, Sandra is nothing like she seems; she’s in league with con artist Max (Sebastian Stan), who has been using her to target some of New York’s most affluent citizens. His latest target is billionaire hedge fund manager Richard Hobbes (John Lithgow), who has recently married Max’s mother Madeline (Julianne Moore), and also happens to be Tom’s father. From there, it’s one surprising twist after another, with writers Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka getting as much mileage as they can out of a tricksy and borderline convoluted narrative.
You’ve definitely seen films like this before, about con artists who enact a major elaborate scheme to trick people out of valuable goods, with the film peeling off its multiple layers the further it goes along: basically, movies like The Sting, Paper Moon, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can, Focus, and so on. Sharper isn’t a whole lot different from those, so you are always on the lookout for subtle clues that could provide insight as to what the ultimate endgame is meant to be, because you know from previous experience not to get too comfortable with what you’re being presented with at first. It does make the viewing experience a little more thrilling, since Caron’s direction is – for lack of a better word – sharp in its ability to keep the viewer guessing, even when it’s becoming more and more obvious what is really happening in the background. It is a well-made film, with the editing and cinematography also keeping itself engaging with its constant precision and colourful shots all across the city of New York, ensuring that no matter what happens in the narrative, you’re always intrigued by its visual language.
However, it eventually reaches a point where it becomes too obsessed with throwing the audience for a loop every fifteen or so minutes, and sacrifices emotional investment in its characters for the appearance of being multi-layered. While it is fun to watch these people double-cross strangers, targets, and even each other – made possible by the lively performances by the ensemble cast, including Julianne Moore who is having a lot of fun, while relative newcomer Briana Middleton is noteworthy as one of the film’s more interesting characters – the script constantly defines them by their actions and not their innermost desires, which proves fatal when certain things happen to some of them later on but you find yourself oddly not caring that much. It feels like light viewing, where you’re more hooked on the unfolding narrative than you are the characters, who are otherwise ill-defined for the most part and lack clear motivations for doing what they do.
All of it sticks out like a sore thumb when it reveals its biggest twist at the end, which in addition to being heavily telegraphed feels like one rug-pull too far, causing you to somewhat struggle with putting together the pieces of this extremely elaborate plan in your head, and how it really does rely on the right people doing the right things at the right time of day. By that point, though, much of your interest in these characters has waned, leaving just a predictable twist to awkwardly close itself out on.
If it’s long-winded cons and twisty narratives you’re after though, then this should be okay enough to pass the time – but don’t come complaining to us if, because of its lightness, you feel somewhat conned yourself.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Sharper is a watchable and well-made con artist thriller that, despite dabbling in familiar territory with the occasional predictable twist, is interesting enough to follow along with, until it reaches one twist too many in its slightly jumbled final section.
