From the Chicago Reader (September 12, 2003). — J.R.

Nicolas Cage, director Ridley Scott, and writers Nicholas and Ted Griffin (adapting an Eric Garcia novel) do an interesting job of capturing the fractured and tortured consciousness of a small-time Los Angeles con artist riddled with compulsive disorders whose life achieves some focus when he encounters a teenage daughter (Alison Lohman) he never knew he had. (He also has a partner and a shrink, played respectively by Sam Rockwell and Bruce Altman.) The portraiture is so carefully done that I regret in some ways the tricky plot — which is also carefully done, but seems at times to belong to a different movie. Robert Zemeckis served as executive producer. 120 min. (JR)