Good “Con Man” stories are harder and harder to make these days. In my experience, a movie like “Focus” has to balance two very different desires from audiences. On one hand, they have to create situations wherein the true purpose isn’t initially apparent. On the other, they need to leave enough clues for viewers to follow the bread crumbs and come up with their own theories. Half of the fun is in being fooled and the other half of the fun is in trying to figure it out.

The first act, or first third, of “Focus” receives high marks for both fooling me and giving me enough information to be churning away at my own ideas. The problem for “Focus” is when it ironically loses the laser focus of the first act. The second act is hallow and uninteresting and the final act is a cheap knockoff of the first.

I was still having fun guessing at what might be coming down the pipe, but what is actually delivered is a far cry from the scenarios that I had cooked up in my head. That’s a difficult judgement to lay at the feet of a spectator sport like film, but nevertheless it’s how audiences react and think when watching this type of movie and thus is, in my opinion, noteworthy.

Speculations and double reverses and lies within lies aside, “Focus” is a decent effort with a strong cast that crumbles under its end-heavy structure. Objectively, there’s a lot of flash and a lot of sleight of hand, but the con isn’t long enough or convincing enough to ensure me.

3 of 6 stars