Sharper is the kind of movie that is just plain enjoyable to watch. Excellent actors in a well-plotted story that makes you want to share every twist and turn with your friends when you tell them about it.
Sharper is about an interconnected group of people, each of them get a separate “chapter” in the story. As each person’s story is told, the characters dance around each other in a twisted ballet of lies and misdirection. Finally they all come together in a surprising conclusion.
Sharper teems with liars, con artists, grifters, and maybe an honest person or two. It’s fun to try to guess in advance what each of them are up to.
Tom (Justice Smith) runs a bookstore. Sandra (Briana Middleton) comes in searching for a particular book. Before she’s finished with her purchase, Tom has asked her out to dinner. The chemistry is there and a romance will follow.
Later we learn that Sandra is on parole, takes drugs, and isn’t really interested in books. She met Max (Sebastian Stan), who saw a spark in her that he could exploit in his schemes. She turned out to be very good at what he taught her.
Then we meet Madeline (Julianne Moore). She is dating a billionaire named Richard (John Lithgow). Both these characters have connections to the three characters we met first.
Watching the way these people relate to each other, lie to each other, and try to swindle each other is one surprise after another. It’s sophisticated and charming in a criminally unsavory way. The question of what is real vs. what is a con tantalizes throughout.
If you need a night’s pleasant entertainment, I recommend this Apple TV+ movie.
really enjoyed this film, in large part because of its structure.
Yes, I thought the “vignette” structure worked well. It gave tension to the various reveals as everything unfolded.