Far from being your average Studio-PR, hype-filled, everybody-congratulating-everybody making of-doc, this is a real look at what it feels like to prep, direct and post a feature film. Camera is present at moments you usually don't see, like the fitting for Nic Cage (you can sense everybody in the room just slowly getting comfortable with each other) or Ridley Scott's first meeting with the picture's editor. If you pay attention, you get a free tour of Scott's offices, too - and any director who posts a "Don't knock, just enter"-sign on the door of his conference room is a prince, if you ask me. Footage is mostly very intriguing fly-on-the-wall-stuff and interviews highlighting production from the p.o.v. of the team members. People readily admit to shortcomings (Hans Zimmer), problems (screenings resulted in quite some creative changes to the movie) and insecurities. Which makes the team's and Scott's triumphs of arriving at better solutions for the creative problems even more valuable and inspiring. Camera always stays long enough on its subject or the proceedings to really feel what's going on. This doc has obviously been made to record what it's like to really work on something like Matchstick Men - as opposed to the souped-up, highlights-filled making of-fare that the PR-departments usually churn out. If the movie weren't brilliant in itself, this doc alone would be worth buying the Matchstick Man DVD for.
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