Matchstick Men
Matchstick Men Image
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Metascore
61 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 62 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Alison Lohman, Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell
  • Summary: A phobia-plagued grifter (Cage) discovers he has a teenage daughter (Lohman) who wants to get to know him?and his business.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 38
  3. Negative: 2 out of 38
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Lohman in particular is effective; I learn to my astonishment that she's 24, but here she plays a 15-year-old with all the tentative love and sudden vulnerability that the role requires, when your dad is a whacko confidence man.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    80
    A combination of criminal smoothness and overloaded neuroses, Cage pulls off the lead role better than any actor imaginable.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    60
    The soundtrack, which relies heavily on melancholy Sinatra standards like "The Good Life," "This Town" and "Summer Wind," casts perfectly modulated warning shadows over the film's light, bright look.
  4. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    30
    Its characters are as flimsy and expendable as the title suggests, while only the most gullible of viewers (i.e., those who've never seen a David Mamet picture) will likely be duped by the painfully et cetera who's-conning-whom antics or the mounds of forced sentimentality under which they're ill-disguised.

See all 38 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 36
  3. Negative: 5 out of 36
  1. Jake
    9
    Cage is great in this film. He plays the part extremly well. It is a very humorous movie with a great story. Rockwell and Lohman were great for the roles that they played. They gelled very well with Cage.… Expand
  2. HenryS
    9
    This is quite an amazing movie, mainly because Alison Lohman's performance was enough to knock anyone off their seats, I still have a hard time believing she was really 23 then! and the end is indeed original, loved it all.… Expand
  3. DaraHMude
    8
    its a great movie i think. i like the scene where cage and angela hangout together... the ending makes the movie even more unforgettable. i wish it would not end up like that because their relationship was very beautiful.… Collapse
  4. matta.
    4
    Predictable tripe for the most part. I could see the ending "twist" coming a mile away. Also, honestly do you really think that Cage would have reacted that way at the end? That calmly towards a person that totally manipulated hiim and stole all his money? Even if he is happy and content at that point, he wouldn't be that nice about it. Anyway, Lohman and Rockwell are pretty good and that helps the film from being a total waste of time.… Expand

See all 36 User Reviews

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