‘Sharper’ Review: Lots of Glitter, Little Gold in Sebastian Stan, Julianne Moore Drama

thewrap.com:

“Sharper” opens with a fake out—in its own title. A dictionary definition fades up on the screen, declaring “sharper” as a noun that means “one who lives by their wits.” This little bit of cheeky word play is a harbinger for the never-ending rug pulls and elaborate deceptions to come in this con artist thriller, directed by longtime TV director Benjamin Caron and written by the team of Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka.

Things are never what they seem in “Sharper.”The film is a slickly-executed piece, an enjoyable but almost unbearably twisty puzzle box of narrative fun, but once everything slots together the box is unfortunately empty.

Just like the characters in the film who seem to con, grift, and scam just because they can, it feels a bit like the filmmakers tied the narrative up in knots just so they could untangle it in front of us with a flourish, a “ta-da!” that feels about as substantial as a trick, not a treat.We open on a meet-cute: a cozy Lower East Side rare books store where a shy young shop clerk, Tom (Justice Smith) connects with a comely NYU grad student, Sandra (Briana Middleton), over a copy of “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” It takes a few fumbling attempts, but the two eventually end up at the Japanese spot around the corner and, later, they share a first kiss over a first edition of “Jane Eyre.” A charming falling-in-love montage ensues, but this is not the end of the story, or even the beginning.“Sharper” is structured in chapters, and the first one, “Tom” falls somewhere in the middle of the story.

Each chapter follows a main character, puzzle pieces snapping into place to reveal the larger picture. Cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen crafts a specific look for each chapter, reflecting.