Matchstick Men (2003)

Matchstick Men is no Road to Perdition; its light touch is its salvation. Seeing this movie is its own reward, but let's be clear: It's more visceral, human, and funny than The Whole Nine (not to mention Ten) Yards. Nicholas Cage does a fine job playing a quirky, obsessive-compulsive "con artist" with an established career and a sterile lifestyle who suddenly finds out he has a 14-year-old daughter who wants to become involved in his life. He discovers he has feelings (that he mostly doesn't know what to do with yet) -- hopes, worries, and joys -- about this precocious young woman, esp. in regard to his risky career and rigid lifestyle. (Apparently the only thing he eats, for example, is canned tuna.) This movie was very satisfying and never slowed down for want of fresh story development, right down to the (wow, a happy) ending. Everyone in the supporting cast carried the story on their shoulders (through all the plot twists and tensions) and made this a very good, believable, feel-good movie. Four stars.