4. Matchstick Men (2003)
Nicolas Cage playing an obsessive compulsive conman alongside the always reliably excellent Sam Rockwell in a comedy drama directed by Ridley Scott? That sounds pretty darn good in our book and Matchstick Men did not disappoint. A hidden gem in the careers of everyone involved, the movie is a tricksy delight, helped in no small amount by a defining breakthrough performance from Alison Lohman as the supposed long lost daughter of Cage's Roy Waller. The chemistry that the three leads share is tremendous and Scott directs the film with a easy slickness, with the film playing like a master filmmaker having a bit of fun with the material. Cage dips into a familiar well in this one, displaying an array of tics and eccentricities, but he and Scott are always careful to never let these aspects overwhelm the character and define him. The idea of this fastidious, agoraphobic grifter finding out that he has a teenage daughter who now wants him to teach her the ways of conning is ripe with comic potential, but also lends itself to insightful drama on the nature of relating to people, overcoming idiosyncrasies and trying to be a 'good' parent. Naturally, as it is a film about con artists, the audience is always waiting for the other shoe to drop and a sting in the tale to be revealed, and the movie accomplishes this with aplomb.