Un colpo perfetto

"Flawless" is a very unusual heist film. While this is generally a wonderful genre with MANY great caper pictures (such as "Rififi", "Oceans Eleven", "Grand Slam" and "Bob le Flambeur"), it's also a genre that seems to have little in the way of twists to make newer heist films worth seeing. With "Flawless" they managed to come up with a dandy twist...making it yet another lovely heist film worth your time.

When the story begins, Laura (Demi Moore) is an elderly woman in the present day being interviewed by a reporter about her extraordinary career. It seems that back in the 1950s, Laura was a real groundbreaker...an executive in the diamond industry in London when other women only became secretaries. But the interview goes in a way the reporter didn't suspect when Laura admits that long, long ago she was involved in a huge diamond robbery...one for which she managed never to be caught. Now, with the statute of limitations behind her, she's about to tell her story.

It seems that in the 1950s, Laura is a very talented and capable executive with London Di, a huge diamond firm. But again and again and again, men are being advanced to upper management and she has come to realize she has hit the so-called 'glass ceiling' and because she was a woman, she'd never go any further. This is rough....but imagine how frustrated she becomes when the company janitor, Hobbs (Michael Caine), tells her that he read a letter in the CEO's office...and it said that they were going to fire her and blackball her in the industry!

Why would Hobbs tell Laura this? Well, after showing her a copy of the letter, he lets her in on his plan...to rob the vault of many millions of pounds worth of gems. And, with her being angry and hurt, she reluctantly agreed to help. What's next? See the film.

There were some very good performances in this movie. Joss Acklund is wonderful as the soulless CEO....a vicious and imposing figure that few other living actors would be able to play well. Moore is also very good....and gave a much better performance than usual because she was given excellent material. And, well, Michael Caine is Michael Caine! Fine acting all around in this one.

So is the film worth seeing? Absolutely. But I must warn you....folks with short attention spans, teenagers and children or folks who need explosions and boobs instead of plot might not enjoy this picture. But I thought it was terrific...and I do like how it managed to make you feel no sorry for the victims (after all, the whole blood diamond angle is alluded to in the film) and breathe new life into the genre. My only quibble, and it's a minor one, is that Moore's character seems a bit wishy-washy about the robbery late in the movie...something I would have preferred hadn't been in the story.

I cannot, however, for the life of me understand why the film only has a paltry 6.8 average currently on IMDB...it's much better than that.

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

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.

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?

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.