BEHOLD the rise of the character actor.

No more left to quirkily work it in the background, their individuality is right up there on centre stage - just look at the career trajectories of men such as Philip Seymour Hoffman.

And here are two of the greatest examples of character actors of recent memory, Nicholas Cage and Sam Rockwell, in this new film by Ridley Scott.

Strangely, the film bears none of the trademark's of Scott's previous films, such as Bladerunner and Gladiator. Matchstick Men tells the tale of two LA "best in the business" con men, Roy (Cage) and Frank (Rockwell), who scam the vulnerable.

Their relationship from the offset is brother-close, with Frank seemingly the only person who can invade the cocoon that Roy has made for himself.

One day, Angela (Alison Lohman), the teenage daughter Roy has never met, enters the picture, all skateboarding and bubble gum.

The film then heads down the familiar Leon highway, as he teaches her the tricks of the con artist's trade, endangering himself by opening up to her.

Roy's tics and behaviour dominate his everyday routine, and, despite their tragic potential, are turned into moments of serious comedy, helped by the delightful Hans Zimmer score and the antics of Rockwell. For example, when Roy asks Frank to wipe the telephone after he's used it, the latter proceeds to rub it gleefully on his crotch.

The acting on display in this film is simply outstanding. Lohman, 24, inconceivably playing a 14-year-old, blends vulnerability with an eerie knowing quality.

Rockwell is developing a nice line in loveable rogues, and has the same unhinged presence behind his eyes, which has served his co-star well.

But the stage here belongs to really only one man - Cage - with a beautifully gauged and sensitive performance. As a loser given a new chance at life, he's simply heart-breaking.

Alas, the final resolution through shock revelation performs a similar feat to the many cinematic twists which have left audiences reeling.

I'm not talking The Sixth Sense here, but the "it was all a dream" school of shammy.

It's all a big con - literally.

While Matchstick Men may be a humorous, sensitive and entertaining length of celluloid, its twisty ending simply pulls the legs out from under the empathy and interest that has gone before, leaving the audience with a bittersweet taste in the mouth.

Cage's portrayal had been so appealingly quirky and desperate for human understanding, that it seems a cruel blow too far.

A sad conclusion to a comic, clever, but ultimately cold film.