Un colpo perfetto

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

"Flawless" from 2007 is filled with the "bling" of not only diamonds, but of Michael Caine and Demi Moore, the stars of this caper movie.

The story starts in the present day with the elderly Laura giving an interview about female executives of the past. She shows the interviewer an absolutely huge diamond and tells her story.

Her story begins in London at London Diamonds, the largest supplier of diamonds in the world, where Laura (Moore) has a good position but is constantly passed over for promotion into the upper echelon.

One day, the janitor, Hobbs (Caine) tells her that she's going to be fired. She doesn't believe him but finds out by snooping around that it's true.

Hobbs wants her to get the codes to the vault, which are changed weekly. He is then going to enter the vault, fill his thermos with small diamonds, which the company probably won't even miss, and leave. He is going to cut her in.

The next day the executives, including Laura, are called down to the vault. I'll leave it at that, but that was a pretty big thermos.

Really excellent film with a charming, subtle performance by Caine as Hobbs and Moore as the unflappable, cool, beautiful Laura, a career girl at a time when that was much more unusual than it is today.

The story will keep you wondering and intrigued up to the very last frame. Highly recommended. I originally watched this because Nathaniel Parker of Inspector Lynley Mysteries has a role. I'm glad I did.

I recall some woefully erroneous movie critic writing about Michael Caine in the late 1960s that Caine was the sort of actor whose career would have three brief stages: 1. Get me Michael Caine; 2. Get me a Michael Caine type; 3. Who is Michael Caine? Needless to say, that movie critic is now long gone and forgotten, while Michael Caine has simply gotten better and better, aging like fine wine. This is not a big "message" movie, or a huge budget extravaganza, but rather it is an extremely well-made and entertaining and suspenseful crime film with very human characters you can really care about. It is set in 1960 England, in which Caine, a janitor, attempts a spectacular robbery of precious jewels. With the able support of Demi Moore, in one of her best performances, and the fine direction of Michael Radford, and a wonderful attention to the little details that make a film so much better, FLAWLESS is very much worth the price of admission. And Mr. Caine, with his finely nuanced performance, a man who can make a glance or a subtle movement speak more than a ton of histrionics by lesser actors, is topping the bill. Need I say more?

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

2 things that i want to comments here. 1st : Brilliant story. 2nd : No sex scenes. (Great to have this movie). Opening of this movie was attracted me very good with 50's background music playing along, so curious. All actors & actress role acting very solid. Me just keep on thinking how a lot of diamond can be disappear a few hours. But only one things that look not so natural was during Laura Quinn old. Her eyes look so fresh!!!..... Anyway it was a really really great story. I suggest you people out there recommend this movie very much. You will know how much your money can by. I would like to give seven out of ten for this brilliant story.