 |
|
|
|
| | | |
| MatchFlick Member Reviews |
view all movie information
Directed By
Michael Radford
Written By:
Edward Anderson
Cast:
Joss Ackland, Michael Caine, Constantine Gregory, Nicholas Jones, Demi Moore, Derren Nesbitt, Nathaniel Parker, Peter Rnic, Kim Hermans, Steve Preston, Jonathan Aris, Simon Day, Simon Day, Josef d'Bache-Kane, David Henry, Claire Thill, Kevan Willis, Lambert Wilson Roya Zargar, Ben Righton
|
|
|
| |
Flawless (2008)
 email this review to a friend
Movie Review by Jarrod
April 7th, 2008
|  |
'Flawless' is a somewhat unconventional heist movie, intelligent and intriguing, with a wonderful performance from Michael Caine. He plays Hobbs, a janitor at the London Diamond Company, a soulless, monopolistic corporation that thrives on the importation of blood diamonds from Africa and keeps millions of dollars worth of the precious gems locked away in a vault. Blood diamonds have been the subject of other recent films, most notably Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou. Hobbs plans on robbing the vaults, but needs an accomplice, preferably someone with security access. He turns to Laura Quinn (Demi Moore), the only female executive in the firm. She knows she will never get promoted to a higher position, and that she could easily be fired, and it seems very likely that she will lose her job in the near future, which is perhaps why she ends up helping Hobbs, who does not exactly tell her everything about his real intentions.
The film deals with the theme of glass ceilings for women in the workplace, the sexism inherent in the male-dominated business world, and integrates this cleverly and successfully into the main story, about the planning, execution, and aftermath of Hobbs's scheme. Caine is brilliant; Hobbs is a crafty and fascinating character. The movie works as a thriller and a mystery, as the audience, much like Laura, is not fully aware of the finer details or even the true scale of Hobbs's plan and it is difficult to foresee all of the complications that ensue, as no cinematic heist ever goes smoothly. Moore, for the most part, is rather bland; she is not terrible, but compared to Caine, she comes up short, and has the unenviable task of sharing the screen with him for long periods of time, and he draws all the attention. And the less said about Moore's British accent the better. Joss Acklund is appropriately slimy as the LDC chairman; little sympathy is to be had for him, and while Hobbs's activities are indeed illegal, it is difficult to get outraged over them, considering the nature of the company he is stealing from.
Admittedly, the plot contains several surprises, like what motivates Hobbs to do what he does, and while material gain is certainly part of it, there is a much deeper and more personal dimension to it that Laura uncovers, once Hobbs reveals it to her. Their partnership ends badly; Laura thinks about turning herself in, disclosing vital information to Finch (Lambert Wilson), the investigator hired by the company to resolve the situation and find those responsible. A confession by Quinn would end it all, but is she willing to risk a jail sentence and a premature end to her career? Some occasional flaws in the script notwithstanding, this is an entertaining and worthwhile film.
email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.
Join or Login. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
