When I got my iPhone from AT&T, I saw they offered 3 months of Apple TV for free. I really had no intention of making an account but when I saw Sharper debut this past Friday, I thought now was as good of a time as any to start. I saw a cast containing Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, and Briana Middleton with a plot about con artists taking on billionaires, and needless to say, my interest was piqued.
That plot summary is a bit misleading. Instead of the Oceans 11-esque heist movie, I was expecting, Sharper is about how a few con artists relate together. Sharper takes four people and four stories and weaves them all together. I love this storytelling dynamic. Each little vignette is interesting on its own before they all tie into that main plot. While they were all unique and helped flesh out each character, I found that with each character’s story being told, they got less interesting. It starts hot with a nice boy-meets-girl story before one of the cons the other out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
We then see how they learned how to con and play a role to sell the story before it switches again to the main con artists in their pursuit of a billionaire’s inheritance. Those first two stories were pretty captivating and gripping, but the movie just lost its hold on me once it got to the third act, becoming too easy to predict. The ending is also a little out there which I wasn’t a huge fan of. It was a twist of sorts but spells itself out, making sure you understand what happened. I don’t like when movies do this. Have the twist, don’t show me every single detail that leads up to it afterward, I can piece it together myself.
Even though the story dulled on me, the performances did not. Briana Middleton showed off a massive range with her character, being vulnerable yet strong, sweet but with a dark side. Sebastian Stan had this charisma to him that stole every scene, even when he was just in the background. His character is emotionless with no regard for the people he has to manipulate on his mission for money. Julianne Moore was spot on as the calculated leader who also had no regard for the people she had to steamroll on her way to the money. Justice Smith plays the victim well until he flips the switch on everyone.
Final Thoughts
As an Apple TV original, this may not be on everyone’s radar. That aside, this movie was good enough to warrant a watch. Is it great? Not in my opinion. The story dulls fast and the reveals aren’t anything that gripping once you understand how the story is being told. If you want to watch some great performances though, this is a good movie for you.
