Reviews by the Movie Snob:

Confidence. (B-) At the outset, I have to state that I am not a fan of the con-artist/scam/caper genre. I have never seen The Sting, and I was unimpressed with The Grifters. I thought the recent remake of Ocean's Eleven was boring. So, take this review cum grano salis. I actually thought it was pretty good, with its impressive cast of Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman, and Andy Garcia. I didn't get too confused about what the scam was all about, as is sometimes a problem for a slow-witted guy like me, and the number of plot twists and switchbacks was reasonable. Burns's lead character was enjoyably cool, and Hoffman was great as a sleazy underworld kingpin. If you like con-racket movies in general, I think you would like this one quite a bit.

xx/xy. (B+) On the other hand, I am a fan of relationship movies, and I thought this little art-house flick was a good one. The beginning of this movie is set at Sarah Lawrence College in 1993. Mark Ruffalo, who was so good in You Can Count on Me, plays a character named Coles Burroughs who is apparently a film student at the school. He's an amiable but dreadfully immature fellow possessed of some bohemian charm. He hooks up with a winsome girl named Sam, and the two of them pal around a lot with Sam's roommate Thea. The Coles-Sam relationship goes south, and the movie flashes forward ten years when the three are unexpectedly reunited. Sparks begin to fly between Coles and Sam again, which is a problem given that Coles now lives with Claire, his girlfriend of some five years. I thought the movie handled the story realistically and that the performances were quite good. Check it out on video sometime, since its theatrical run is probably about over.