Film

Confidence

Name: Confidence
Genre: Action, Comedy, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Released: 2003
Cast: Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia, Paul Giamatti, Morris Chestnut

A slick con-artist comedy where a small-time grifter accidentally rips off the wrong crime boss and must orchestrate an elaborate fake-out to survive. Snappy, twisty, and gleefully amoral, *Confidence* is a caper that treats its own implausibility as a feature. It's for people who loved *Ocean's Eleven* but wanted it meaner and faster.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy con-artist stories where the pleasure lies in watching a tight crew run a long, layered scheme and the twists arrive with a grin rather than a sermon.

Skip it if you want a gritty, grounded heist where every choice carries real weight, since this one leans on slick style and cheeky misdirection more than on emotional stakes.

What it asks of you: It runs about ninety-seven minutes and moves briskly, asking you to keep track of who is conning whom and to enjoy the stylish, sun-bleached surface rather than settle into anything slow or heavy.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Ocean's Eleven2001

The template for modern heist comedies. Charismatic ensemble, interlocking schemes, and a tone that treats audacity like charm. If you enjoyed *Confidence's* narrative trickery and witty crew dynamics, this is essential.

But More famous and safer. The setup is slicker but the actual con is less surprising, and the moral stakes are almost nonexistent.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels1998

Guy Ritchie's debut crams multiple overlapping cons into London's criminal underworld with relentless energy and dark humour. Fast, clever, populated by colourful lowlifes with real consequences.

But The overlapping plots can feel deliberately confusing rather than elegant. Some viewers find the sheer pace exhausting rather than exhilarating.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels poster

The Grifters1990

A masterclass in con-artist cinema where the schemes are secondary to the psychology. Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, and Annette Bening navigate lies, manipulation, and generational trauma with genuine danger underneath.

But Much darker and slower than *Confidence*. The mood is poison, not fun, and the ending is genuinely bleak.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Confidence

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Rififi1955

Both films treat the con as a puzzle box where intelligence and nerve matter more than firepower. Both ask what happens when the grifter becomes the target.

Jules Dassin's French noir perfected the heist blueprint *Confidence* follows: meticulous planning, loyal crew, double-crosses, and the thrill of pulling off the impossible. The celebrated silent heist sequence remains unsurpassed for tension.

But Black and white, subtitled, and paced like 1950s cinema. The gender politics are ancient. If you need energy and colour, this will feel glacial.

Snatch2000

Another Ritchie ensemble crime caper juggling diamonds, gangsters, and incompetent criminals across interlocking storylines. Audacious, clever, and willing to kill off characters you like.

But The fragmented narrative can feel more chaotic than clever. Pacing sometimes serves style over clarity.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

A con-artist noir with Robert Downey Jr. as a charming criminal narrator. Meta, funny, deeply cynical about Los Angeles and human nature, with schemes that genuinely surprise.

But The narrator voice can feel self-indulgent. Some viewers find the irony relentless and the sentiment thin.

The Sting1973

The gold standard. Paul Newman and Robert Redford orchestrate an impossibly elegant revenge con against a crime boss. Beautifully structured, endlessly watchable, funny without winking.

But The pacing is measured rather than kinetic—it moves at 1970s speed. The con is so carefully explained it loses the surprise for attentive viewers.

Shallow Grave1994

Danny Boyle's debut where three flatmates discover a dead body and cash, then scheme to cover it up. Tense, darkly funny, genuinely unpredictable about where desperation leads.

But The tone whipsaws between thriller and black comedy. Some scenes play harder than others.

Matchstick Men2003

Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell as con artists with real neuroses and emotional damage underneath the schemes. Funny, peculiar, and willing to complicate its own machinery.

But The emotional undercurrent can feel at odds with the con-movie framework. The ending is divisive.

The Thomas Crown Affair1999

A heist romance where the pleasure comes from watching two beautiful, brilliant people outwit each other and themselves. Breezy, sexy, confident without needing to be frantic.

But The plot is almost irrelevant. If you're watching for narrative thrust rather than style and chemistry, you'll be frustrated.

After the Sunset2004

Both films find the real pleasure in outsmarting rather than in violence. The scheme is the emotional core, and the audience should admire the audacity even when rooting against the protagonist.

Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson as a retired art thief and an FBI agent in a cat-and-mouse game across paradise. Lighter and sunnier than *Confidence* but equally focused on the game itself—the cons are the point.

But It's a lightweight adventure comedy, not a thriller. If you want real stakes, the Caribbean setting and tone undermine them.