Un plan brillante

Flawless is a charming, tense, and nicely executed caper movie.

I had absolutely no idea how the robbery was done until the revelation: and, like most of us, I have watched enough heist movies to quickly go "Yup, got it!", more often than not, but not here.

Excellent understated performances from Demi Moore and Michael Caine, especially in the small facial gestures when stressed and so on. The settings etc; all add to a nice retro feel. You really get a sense that they tried hard to build the 1960s into this - very buttoned-down, very regimented, a very male world.

One of the major attractions for us was that the sense of pace builds slowly - and compared to the Bank Job I have to say this is the better movie.

All in all a clever, entertaining film, with a good script and very nice central performances, and even a human message.

Definitely recommended

This is a well done film with Michael Caine and the not so young Demi Moore. Regardless of their ages, the depth of the characters puts together a timid plot to make an enjoyable film, with a feel good film/ story. Okay for a night to replace boredom with small laughing outbursts on the quirkiness of subtle underlying jokes. It is a slow movie to begin, and is so through out the rest of it, but it does it in such a way to continue the growing curiosity and find out the sum of the show from the small twists and plays of the storyline. It is mostly the lovable character (Caine) that keeps the viewer involved so deeply in the story, also his lost but not forgotten past. It leads to a cliché ending but still very acceptable in my view. And the actor whom plays Mr.Finch also plays the Merovingian from The Matrix. A small plus to see his acting career develop and hopefully become more mainstream.

Set in London in 1960, the aptly named "Flawless" features Demi Moore as Laura Quinn, the first woman to become senior negotiator at Lon Di, the world's premier diamond firm. However, Quinn has pretty much hit the glass ceiling career-wise with the company, and when she discovers that she is about to be let go from the firm, she agrees to join forces with the night janitor (Michael Caine) in his plan to rob the vault of a thermos-full of uncut diamonds.

"Flawless" is a good old-fashioned caper tale done with an abundance of wit, intelligence and style and just enough twists and turns in the plot to keep the audience on its toes throughout. Moore and Caine make a perfect team as the duo plotting the heist, while director Michael Radford generates enough suspense for a dozen average thrillers. The script by Edward Anderson even manages to squeeze in some points about early '60's feminism and South African apartheid along the way.

Definitely worth seeing.

Flawless? Not Quite, but it is certainly a little heist gem. This year, with so far a fairly disappointing turnout of high calibre movies, a very narrow niche has been reinvigorated. That little slice of the celluloid pie (mmmm, sounds good) belongs to the British heist flick. With The Bank Job, and now with Flawless, this could mark the beginning of a revamp of all capper films to follow. Or at least we can hope.

Directed by Michael Radford, who has had little mainstream acknowledgment, (save perhaps the star studded Merchant of Venice) makes his shove into the limelight with a film although never destined to make the big bucks, hopefully at least will be sought out by some. Similarly to The Bank Job, Flawless concentrates more on atmosphere and character development then flashy drawn out robbery sequences, although that can most defiantly be rewarding, as seen in The Italian Job. The opening sequence is a hybrid of Blood Diamond and Lord of War, showing the journey of a diamond from a muddy African field to a throne atop a ladies dainty finger. This film has similar political views to that of Blood Diamond, and such morals are imbedded into multiple facets of the story. It also has elements of Pay it Forward, numerous cat and mouse thrillers, even a scene reminiscent of the opening monologue of Titanic. But as such, Flawless never rips of any of these films, and instead, combines a number of classic elements to create a riveting and original picture.

Most heist films either follow a straightforward narrative, where we follow key characters as they assemble their teams, and carry out the theft or, the other broad characterization is to opt for a scattered chronology, beginning with the hero in prison, where their fate is (sometimes) certain. Flawless manages to incorporate wisps' of both these narrative flows, and is better off because of it. Set in 60's London, we meet Michael Caine, who plays janitor "Mr Hobbs", a 15-year veteran employee of the largest supplier of diamonds at the time, The London Diamond Corporation. Still coping with the loss of his wife, he recruits the help of American Laura Quinn (Demi Moore), who is a sour senior administrator; sour because she has been passed up for promotion one too many times. (In addition to the fact that she learns she will be terminated shortly) Using their opposite shift work and positions to their advantage, they plan to steal enough diamonds to live their lives out in comfort.

Demi Moore has never been much of an actress, but despite her slipping English accent, she gives probably her best performance to date, fading into her role, and for once, playing a character that looks their age. The problem with her character is not with Moore's performance but with how she is presented; unsympathetic and shrill. She always seems unwilling and bitchy, which could be partly due to the stark contrast between Moore and her male counterpart's composure and cool. That "male" of course being Michael Caine, who is solid as always and makes for a very atypical criminal which is part of the films charm. He is sweet, old and can barely walk, but his history (which does not include training for a career in janitorial work) makes him a formidable foe. We get nice supporting work from the always devilish Lambert Wilson, who we all remember as The Merovingian from The Matrix Reloaded, as the internal investigator and from Joss Ackland as one of London Diamond's heads and who is a powerfully menacing figure. (He played Arjen Rudd, the evil African diplomat in Lethal Weapon II)

Flawless has a good feel for the times, in reference to the setting, clothing, dialogue, etc. The inevitable twist that is associated with almost all heist films stands alone in its uniqueness, which you will have to see to truly understand why it is different. Director Radford gives us some powerful sequences; one which perfectly captures the political intentions of the film involves Michael Caine's character tossing one of the largest cut diamonds in the world into a bin of tiny uncut stones, which the executives wouldn't floss their teeth with. It is a vivid reminder of what diamonds really are, and what we are willing to give and do for such.

Destined to be a ghost in the theatres, this is definitely a film to scrounge for on DVD shelves. Presenting emotionally charged and involving performances and extracting a blind-siding twist from a source which I though must have been drained years ago, Flawless is a solid and intellectually stimulating movie experience.

View all my reviews at Simon Says Movie Reviews: www.simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com

Most heist movies of the last 10 years tend to share the similar done-to-death storyline as they fail to come up with any originality. Such films mostly rely on extravagant special effects and over-the-top action sequences to capture the audience's attention. Of course there are a few exceptions and a majority of these exceptions tend to be gems. Such is Radford's 'Flawless'. Of course merely labelling it as a heist movie wouldn't be doing justice for the depth of the story exceeds beyond the robbery.

The opening sequence of a diamond being extracted from the African mud and then it's transformation till it lands on a woman's finger may look familiar but it doesn't feel stale especially how it gets straight to the point in the following sequence where a pompous young journalist meets an aged Laura Quinn for an interview. The sequence thereafter takes us back to 60's London. Radford cleverly tackles themes of sexism, blood diamond, class etc by incorporating them withing the story and never sounding preachy. He deals with some heavy issues in a cleverly subtle way.

Through scenes in the bank, he also distinguishes the contrast between the status of men and women in 60's London. It doesn't feel to be such a long time ago yet it is surprising that Quinn is the only woman in the bank (and perhaps the world as is hinted) to work as an administrator while each and every one of her colleagues are men. Clearly she's a woman trying to survive in a man's world and continues to struggle as she is continuously passed over for promotion and soon learns that her employment at the bank will be terminated shortly. However, when the janitor comes up with an unexpected proposition, she reluctantly sees a way out.

'Flawless' is both story driven and character driven while being atmospheric. The writing is solid. The witty dialogues are loaded with dry and sarcastic humour and there's a philosophical element to most of them. The characters are wonderfully developed and the story moves at a smooth pace. The 60s atmosphere is well created and I liked how it contrasted with modern day London.

Caine and Moore are in top form. Caine's gentlemanlike Mr. Hobbes is not your typical criminal. He's polite, charming but eventually the viewer sees that things are not as they seemed. Michael Caine easily plays his part with élan. Demi Moore is fantastic too. Many have complained her accent bouncing back and forth between British and American but that makes sense because Quinn is an American who's been living in London for more than fifteen years. Thus it is believable that her accent would be distorted. Her reaction in the scenes with Hobbes and Finch are remarkable. Some of the best sequences in 'Flawless' are the ones between Moore and Caine and Moore and Wilson. Lambert Wilson delivers a very good performance in a strong supporting role.

I didn't know much about the film before seeing it. Unfortunately, such movies do not get the deserved attention during its release but I hope it gradually gets the well deserved recognition. What caught my attention prior to viewing was the odd but seemingly interesting pairing of Caine and Moore and when I finally got to see this refreshing gem, I was more than glad with a more than satisfying film experience. I've already included this little film treasure in my shelf of DVDs.