Focus (2015 film)

Seasoned con-man Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith) meets an inexperienced grifter, Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), who tries to seduce and con him, pretending they've been caught by her jealous husband. When they fail, Nicky advises them never to lose focus when faced with unexpected situations. Nicky follows Jess and convinces her to have drinks, he tells her how his father killed his grandfather in a stand-off, explaining the "Toledo Panic Button" tactic, in which you shoot your partner to show your loyalty.

Jess follows him to New Orleans, successfully persuading Nicky to take her under his wing, where she is also introduced to Nicky's crew as well, including the obese and profane Farhad (Adrian Martinez) and fellow con-man Horst (Brennan Brown). Picking a few pockets as a test, Nicky and Jess develop a romantic relationship, upsetting Nicky, who was taught by his father to never become emotionally involved with any colleagues. At the 17th Super Bowl, Nicky gets into a round of increasingly extravagant bets with gambler Liyuan Tse (B.D. Wong), eventually losing all of the money the crew has earned.

To win it back, Nicky asks Tse to pick any player on or off the field and says that Jess will guess the number picked. A distraught Jess scans the field and sees Farhad wearing jersey number 55, realizing it is another con. They take Tse for millions of dollars. Nicky explains to Jess how Tse had been programmed to pick 55 since he arrived, with subtle, subconscious prompts throughout his day. After explaining it, Nicky leaves Jess with her cut, instructing the driver to take her to the airport. Jess cries as her limo drives off, as Nicky climbs into another waiting car.

Three years later, Nicky goes to Buenos Aires, working for billionaire motorsport team owner Rafael Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro). Garriga wants to beat a team headed by Australian businessman McEwen (Robert Taylor) to win the championship. Nicky will pretend to be a disgruntled technician on Garriga's team willing to sell Garriga's custom fuel use algorithm EXR. Instead, he will sell McEwen a bogus version which will slow their car down during the race. At a pre-race party, Nicky runs into Jess, who is now Garriga's girlfriend. After faking heavy drinking upon seeing Jess, Nicky has a convincing fight with Garriga in public and after being thrown out, is recruited by McEwen to provide the component.

Nicky begins pursuing Jess again, and they eventually rekindle their relationship. The head of Garriga's security entourage, Owens (Gerald McRaney), is suspicious and narrowly misses catching the two together. Nicky not only delivers the real component to McEwen for three million euros but also sells it to the other teams for similar amounts.

Nicky and Jess attempt to return to the US together. However, they are caught by Garriga's men and taken to his garage. Jess is tied up and her mouth is taped shut whilst Nicky is given a beating. Garriga is convinced that Jess had something to do with Nicky gaining access to EXR and begins to suffocate the gagged Jess. To save her, Nicky explains that he gained access to EXR by tricking her into believing he still had feelings for her. That the necklace he had given to Jess was equipped to secretly record Garriga's password and login information. He explains that Jess was conned and knew nothing about this. However, Jess then reveals that she was only trying to seduce Garriga in order to steal his valuable watch and to make Nicky jealous.

Nicky promises to come clean in order to spare Jess's life but Owens shoots him in the chest, causing a horrified Garriga to leave. Owens then reveals himself to be Nicky's father, Bucky and assures Jess that he avoided any major arteries. He simply employed the "Toledo Panic Button." Bucky then tapes up Nicky's wounds and draws excess blood out of his son's chest with a plunger so that he can breathe. They flee the garage in Garriga's vehicle.

Bucky drives Nicky and Jess to the hospital to treat Nicky's punctured lung and departs with the money as a reminder of the consequences of losing focus. After he leaves, Nicky notices that Jess snatched Garriga's watch before he left the warehouse, and a smiling Nicky and Jess then go into the hospital together.

• Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon
• Margot Robbie as Jess Barrett
• Rodrigo Santoro as Rafael Garriga
• Gerald McRaney as Bucky Spurgeon / Owens
• B. D. Wong as Liyuan Tse
• Robert Taylor as McEwen
• Dominic Fumusa as Jared Mukulski
• Brennan Brown as Horst
• Griff Furst as Gareth
• Adrian Martinez as Farhad
• Alfred Tumbley as Dogs
• Billy Slaughter as Passing Thief
• Juan Minujin as Barman
• Stephanie Honoré as Janice
• Omid Khodadad as Focus Developer
• Mehdi Rafiee as CTO

Apollo Robbins served as a consultant, conceiving and choreographing original sleight-of-hand maneuvers. Directors Ficarra and Requa stated, "Apollo is the foremost expert in his field and is an inspiration to us."

The directing duo and production designer Beth Mickle made a scouting trip to Buenos Aires in June and a second trip with producers Denise Di Novi and Mark Scoon, in which they finally settled to shoot in the neighborhoods of San Telmo, Puerto Madero, Barracas, Retiro, Recoleta and Palermo, as well as Ezeiza Airport and a few hotels.[5]

Neil Smith spoke at the Digital Cinema Society forum dropping several hints as to the identity of a film being edited in Final Cut Pro X in a December 2013 presentation. This would make Focus the largest production yet completed in Apple's editing program.

The film was released in 2015 in the US and Germany.[8] On January 29, 2015, Warner Bros. and IMAX Corporation announced that they would digitally re-master the film into the immersive IMAX DMR format, also for release on the same date.[9]

The soundtrack album was released on February 24, 2015 by WaterTower Music.[19]

1. "I'm a Manchild" – Uptown Funk Empire
2. "Sofa Rockers (Richard Dorfmeister Remix)" – Sofa Surfers
3. "Please!" – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
4. "Wind It Up" – Stooges Brass Band
5. "You Don't Have to Worry" – Doris & Kelley
6. "Meet Me in the City" – Junior Kimbrough
7. "Sympathy for the Devil" - The Rolling Stones
8. "Gimme Danger" – The Stooges
9. "Chorra" – Los Mareados
10. "La Espada de Cadorna" – Mauro Alberelli, Fernando Diego, Barreyro, Maria Carla Flores, Fermin Echeveste, Manuel Gonzalez Aguilar, Mateo Gonzalez Aguilar and Carlos Maximiliano Russo
11. "Gerli Hood" – Ivan Diaz Mathe, Jorge Estenbenet, Sebastian Martinez, Francisco Olivero, Daniel Michel, Juan Manuel Meyer and Gala Iglesias Brickles featuring Camilo Costaldi Lira and Alberto Manuel Rodriguez
12. "Corazon de Piedra (Te Amo)" – Alenjandro Medina
13. "White Bird" – It's a Beautiful Day
14. "Love Makes the World Go Round" – Barbara Lewis
15. "Focus (Love Theme)" – Nick Urata
16. "The Windmills of Your Mind" – Ray Conniff and The Singers

• Focus at IMDb
• Focus at Rotten Tomatoes