Tuesday’s Top Trailer: Focus

Welcome back to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

Focus – Opening February 27, 2015

My first thought when I saw this trailer featured on the IMDB home page was that it was a remake of the 2001 film of the same name starring William H. Macy as a man mistaken for a Jew after he gets new glasses in 1940s New York. This is most definitely a different movie, and one that has the potential to be good, though I’m not sure how well it will deliver. I do think that Will Smith is a strong anchor of action films like “I Am Legend,” and I didn’t much care for him in the last thought-provoking drama he did, “Seven Pounds,” or in his Oscar-nominated role in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” for that matter. What this film seems to do is to get him back to his charismatic roots, if not quite his comedic ones, allowing him to play a con man skilled in the art of charming others into believing that he’s their best friend. More enticing than Smith is his costar Margot Robbie. I thought that the Australian native was absolutely terrific in “The Wolf of Wall Street” and ignored in favor of her more well-known male costars, and I would love to see what she can do with another role that emphasizes seduction but allows her to tone down her strong fake American accent. She and Smith are an intriguing pair, to be sure. I’m happy to see Gerald McRaney and Robert Taylor in the supporting cast since that constitutes a “Longmire” reunion, and I’m eager to see both of them in new roles. February isn’t usually a great time for movies but this looks like it could be decent if it manages to us its eclectic cast and fun premise to solid effect.