 Tagline: He had a scheme. She had a motive. 1960s London: Demi Moore is Laura Quinn, a bright and driven executive at the London Diamond Corporation who finds herself discouraged as male colleagues are repeatedly promoted ahead of her despite her greater experience. Michael Caine is Hobbs, the equally overlooked nighttime janitor with an intimate knowledge of the security - and a score to settle with the Corporation. Sensing Laura's frustration, he convinces her to help pull off an ingenious heist. Storyline: London, 1960. Laura Quinn is the lone female executive at London Diamond Corporation. She is frustrated as her talents are rarely acknowledged and her less-experienced male co-workers are promoted ahead of her. She is shocked, but intrigued, when the mild-mannered night janitor, Mr. Hobbs, approaches her with a daring but simple plan to steal a handful of diamonds from the vault. Laura agrees to help, but she is soon in over her head. And it is not long before insurance investigator Mr. Finch has his eyes on her. Written by L. Hamre Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Casey Broadwater, August 6, 2009 -- The heist film genre, like the western, has gone through numerous moral and narrative revisions. It used to be that the bad guys were the ones planning the heist, and the end of the film would feature them getting caught, being killing, or escaping empty-handed. Leone and Peckinpah's anti-heroes helped change that convention, and the moral line became more about differentiating between various shades of gray. It became perfectly acceptable to root for protagonists who steal from criminals who are more ruthless than themselves. Capers also became more reliant on gimmicks and plot devices, from the non-linear storytelling of Reservoir Dogs to the Mini- Coopers of The Italian Job and the all-star ensemble casts of the Ocean's movies. Flawless, then, is a bit of a heist film throwback. While it does include some Robin Hood- style, steal-from-the-rich motivations, the film dispenses with Hollywood glitz in favor of a more elegant, traditionally told tale that, while admittedly slower and less objectively exciting, is carefully constructed and offers a modestly satisfying conclusion. Set in London in 1960, before the swinging got started in earnest, Flawless presents a conservative, male-dominated business world not unlike that of AMC's brilliant series Mad Men. Ms. Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) is an American ex-pat and former Oxford grad serving as a mid-level executive for the all-powerful London Diamond Corporation. Quinn's career trajectory, however, has hit the proverbial glass ceiling. Though she has a brilliant business mind and is perhaps the company's most dedicated employee, she's been passed over for promotion six times, watching the jobs go to less qualified male co-workers. London Diamond is an old boys club, and Quinn's first-to-arrive and last-to-leave work ethic hasn't necessarily won her the admiration of her peers. None of this has gone unnoticed by Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine), a sharp- witted janitor on the verge of retirement. Hobbs has been mulling over a scheme to rob London Diamond's vault, and he sees in Quinn a potentially willing and motivated accomplice. After he overhears that Quinn is soon to be fired—"It's extraordinary the conversations people will have in front of cleaners," he says—Quinn is convinced and agrees to go in on the heist. Of course, robbing the world's largest diamond depository is no easy feat, and the two encounter various snares while the ongoing plot makes serpentine twists that most viewers won't see coming. The three-act story plays out in slow, calculated movements, so those wanting a cinematic rollercoaster may want to look elsewhere. For the patient, however, Flawless sets up its twists with a cool calm, leading us through not a who-dunnit, but a how-dunnit and, more importantly, a why-dunnit. The period setting is a welcome break from modern casino and bank capers, and it lends the film a contemplative, studied tone that makes up for its lack of action with exacting authenticity. Like Mad Men, the props, sets, and costumes enhance the atmosphere of the film, bringing to mind all the connotations these objects have for us now, some 40 years hence. In the boardroom, office workers smoke like fiends. The analog technology hints at the computerization to come. And just look at Ms. Quinn in her cashmere, tweed and pearls, posture erect, with her hair sculpted rigidly and her lips tinted perfectly red. Her prim and proper wardrobe tells you almost everything you need to know about her character—that she's straitlaced, a hard worker, and a woman desperately trying to make it in a man's world. Demi Moore might not be the most versatile actress, but she carries this somewhat thankless role—it does, after all, require her to be a fairly lifeless drone—with a calculated precision, showing thought in every puff of smoke and wave of her cigarette. The film sets up her character as a kind of proto-feminist, blazing a trail for women in the workplace, but there's a thematic reversal midway through the film where her regret over never marrying and having a family undermines some of the character's initial determination. I can see these kind of creeping doubts being commonplace for working women during her time, but for a film that opens with shots of modern women carrying out business on cell phones and laptops, it seems strange that Flawless all but drops the feminism issue. If I have one overriding complaint about the film, it's that these thematic red herrings are so commonplace. Flawless briefly touches on blood diamonds, war in South Africa, and a somewhat shady deal with the Russians, but while we're led to think these matters may figure largely into the plot, they're really only tangentially involved, giving us some background as to what was going on politically at the time. In essence, the tale boils down to simple revenge, and I while I won't divulge any further, I will say that the final reveal did manage to elicit an ah-ha moment, from me anyway. Mr. Hobbs' story goes deeper than you'd initially think, and Michael Caine is dependable, as always, delivering another one of his characteristic, blue-collar Cockney performances. He doesn't change up the routine much between roles, but with a wry smile and crafty twinkle in his eye, Caine is always a pleasure to watch, playing tender and devious with equal agility. He out-classes Moore in every scene they play together, but this is hardly a one-man act. Joss Ackland is magnificent as the gravelly voiced founder of London Diamond, and the talented (and multi-lingual) Lambert Wilson arrives late in the game as Finch, an insurance fraud investigator who has a thing for Ms. Quinn. While Flawless may not be as fun or raucously exciting as other heist flicks, and although it does leave a few plot threads dangling and disconnected, I found the film to be stylish, well-made, and deserving of more attention than it received during its limited theatrical release. Releasing a film called Flawless is basically a challenge to critics, who will inevitably deem it anything but, and although the film does have its foibles, I found it a rewarding divergence from typical Hollywood heist flicks. Recommended. Cast Notes: Demi Moore (Laura Quinn), Michael Caine (Mr. Hobbs), Lambert Wilson (Finch), Nathaniel Parker (Oliver 'Ollie' Ashtoncroft), Shaughan Seymour (Eaton), Nicholas Jones (Jameson), David Barras (Fenton), Joss Ackland (Sir Milton Kendrick Ashtoncroft), Silas Carson (Reece), Derren Nesbitt (Sir Clifton Sinclair), Rosalind March (Penelope), Kevan Willis (Lewis), Stanley Townsend (Henry), Jonathan Aris (J.M. Boyle), Ben Righton (Bryan). IMDb Rating (03/20/10): 6.8/10 from 7,292 users
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