Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
What Jake Vig doesn't know just might get him killed. A sharp and polished grifter, Jake has just swindled thousands of dollars from the unsuspecting Lionel Dolby with the help of his crew. It becomes clear that Lionel wasn't just any mark, he was an accountant for eccentric crime boss Winston King. Jake and his crew will have to stay one step ahead of both the criminals and the cops to finally settle their debt.
Confidence is a slick, reasonably entertaining neo-noir con thriller that rides the post-Usual Suspects wave of twist-heavy crime capers. The plot is competent and moves briskly, with enough double-crosses to stay engaging, though the mechanics feel borrowed from a well-worn playbook. The ensemble cast—Dustin Hoffman chewing scenery as King, Edward Burns as the cool-headed Jake—delivers solid if unspectacular work; Hoffman is the standout. Cinematography is stylish in a mid-2000s crime-film way, with decent visual energy but nothing particularly distinctive. Novelty suffers as the film is clearly derivative of the Soderbergh heist revival and similar grifter fare of the era, offering little that feels singular or fresh. The ending attempts a clever reversal but the twist lands as somewhat telegraphed and unsatisfying given the buildup, undercutting the payoff the genre demands.