WILL SMITH AND MARGOT ROBBIE IN FOCUS

2015 rating: ***1/2

With Elmore Leonard gone, and Quentin Tarantino making either War, Western or Kung Fu flicks, it’s nice to hear the JACKIE BROWN style groove of classic and modern-nostalgic R&B guiding a hustling-bustling crime caper flick along… And it helps if it’s actually good.

Will Smith’s con man extraordinaire Nicky and wannabe player Margot Robbie’s Jess are made for each other, almost too well…

In a nicely edited sequence, Nicky teaches the stunning blonde how to "hypnotize" a potential victim: followed by so many easy scores with the help of a band of hustlers under Nicky’s watch, your head will spin – yet with the steady music and solid mainline it’s a nice kind of dizzy despite one too many recent flashbacks, and the bigger cons testing a logical ability to suspend disbelief.

Broken into two halves, the initial overdose of steamy bedroom sequences pay off so the leads, developing with each other, mean more when the prime "gotcha" moments occur. And Will Smith proves his worth as an actor, always keeping you guessing if he’s telling the truth, taking you for a ride, or both. Let's just hope the immense publicity for FOCUS pays: It's well worth the price of seeing everyone else being ripped off. OVERALL RATING: Jedi, Rebel, Droid, Sith.