The story aims to be a quaint, classy crime drama. But its quaintness comes off as laughably old-fashioned, and instead of classy, it's just plain dull.
Flawless (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:86
Fresh:47
Rotten:39
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Michael Caine's excellent performance makes Flawless something more than an average heist movie.
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Genre: Dramas
US Box Office: $1,146,525
Synopsis: Michael Radford (IL POSTINO) brings an artful touch to Edward Anderson's screenplay with FLAWLESS, a serious account of a remarkable heist at London Diamond, one of the world's premier diamond... Michael Radford (IL POSTINO) brings an artful touch to Edward Anderson's screenplay with FLAWLESS, a serious account of a remarkable heist at London Diamond, one of the world's premier diamond holders. Set in 1960s London, the film focuses on Laura Quinn (Demi Moore), a woman so driven she's chosen career over personal life and found her way into the boys' club known as the diamond business. As Laura gets overlooked for a manager position year after year, she resolves to work even harder, hoping that, despite her history, her efforts will one day pay off. Ironically, it's Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine), a night janitor, who takes note of Laura's frustration. The seemingly simple Mr.Hobbs finds a way to use this to his advantage, proposing a plan that will only work with Laura's cooperation. When Laura rejects the offer, Mr. Hobbs encourages her to question just what's holding her back, personally and professionally. While Laura's precarious position within a male-dominated world gives her understandable motive, Mr. Hobbs's is trickier to decipher. The story is based on a fictional heist, but the film is faithful to its setting. Beautiful costumes and sets and strong attention to detail instantly transport viewers back to a different era. Moore's performance may feel wooden at times, but this is fitting considering the obstacles a woman in her position and time would have been up against. Her acting chops come through when she finally breaks down, only to have to pull herself back together for a room full of her male colleagues. Caine seems predictably at ease in his role as Mr. Hobbs, who drives the plot from behind his unassuming mop and duster. Though slow-moving at first, this stylish thriller slyly draws its audience in as its characters take on more depth. [More]
Starring: Demi Moore, Michael Caine, Lambert Wilson, Joss Ackland
Starring: Demi Moore, Michael Caine, Lambert Wilson, Joss Ackland
Director: Michael Radford
Director: Michael Radford
Screenwriter: Edward A. Anderson
Producer: Mark Williams, Michael Pierce
Composer: Stephen Warbeck
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Reviews for Flawless
For a movie about a diamond heist, Michael Radford's talky, 1960s-set Flawless lacks sparkle--despite strong period detail, earnest messages, and committed performances.
A weak plot still makes a viable vehicle for a couple of great performances with some unbeatable screen chemistry and a good old fashioned plot twist at the end.
Those of us who'll happily watch Caine in pretty much anything will find enough pleasures here.
This is supposed to be a caper movie. Shouldn't it have a heroine who looks as if she could, you know, conceivably, caper?
The plot contortions that very slowly unfold under Michael Radford's arthritic direction in Flawless are not much...entertaining.
There is a nice sense of style, and appreciation for tense face-to-face confrontations among characters trying to ignore the temptations around them. It's sort of the opposite of the current robbery flick The Bank Job - all substance and no flash.
Though the central mystery does hold one's interest, tin-eared dialogue, unlikely staging and dramatic conveniences all work against our being swept up in the chicanery.
A nicely made if slightly stodgy jewel heist flick that offers Michael Caine one more juicy, low-key role and Demi Moore another step back up the ladder to career revival.
Flawless is a gimcrack, a genre exercise, yet it's a confidence game in the best sense of the phrase. [Director] Radford knows the rules - when to bend them, when to break them, and when to play by them. That's an increasingly rare skill.
Flawless, directed with a fine eye by Michael Radford, is a diamond-heist thriller that will make you nostalgic for the smart, classy caper films of a certain era.
Flawless is a fictional tale, but something in director Michael Radford's conscientious, methodical presentation gives it the feeling of true history. Watching it is like watching a historical dramatization of something that never really happened.
Despite a finale that fails to live up to the promise of its premise, Flawless still manages to be a polished throwback to the great British crime thrillers of the ’60s, and a welcome return to form for director Michael Radford.
Flawless is a mildly diverting period heist movie in which an odd couple conspire to loot an evil London diamond company, for which they both work.
At least the picture's title is apt -- as a work of preposterous implausibility it is, indeed, without any redeeming flaw.
An enthralling bauble of many facets: part feminist thriller, part "howdunnit" mystery, and all good old-fashioned story.
Michael Caine's performance in Flawless is just that. As for his co-star, Demi Moore ...
It is kind of a shame that it isn't getting a wider distribution because it is precisely the kind of intelligent adult entertainment that people are always complaining isn't being made anymore.
Latest News for Flawless
November 28, 2008:
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March 26, 2008:
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