Flawless (2007)

Director:

Michael Radford

Writer:

Edward Anderson (written by)

Release Date:

28 March 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

He had a scheme. She had a motive.

Plot:

A crime/drama set in 1960 London, where a soon to retire janitor convinces a glass-ceiling constrained American executive to help him steal a handful of diamonds from their employer, the London Diamond Corporation. |

Cast

Demi Moore	...	Laura Quinn
Michael Caine	...	Mr. Hobbs
Lambert Wilson	...	Finch
Nathaniel Parker	...	Ollie
Shaughan Seymour	...	Eaton
Nicholas Jones	...	Jameson
David Barras	...	Fenton
Joss Ackland	...	Milton Kendrick Ashtoncroft
Silas Carson	...	Reece
Derren Nesbitt	...	Sinclair
Rosalind March	...	Penelope
Kevan Willis	...	Lewis
Stanley Townsend	...	Henry
Jonathan Aris	...	Boyle
Ben Righton	...	Bryan

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Runtime:

108 min | Germany:100 min (European Film Market)

Country:

UK | Luxembourg

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-7 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Pierce / Williams Entertainment

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Laura tears up the note-card illustrating that there are no women managers in the company, she tears it vertically and evenly down the middle. The restored card that Mr. Hobbs shows her later has a more diagonal tear, and is made up of unequal portions.

Quotes:

Laura Quinn: Why do you want to steal from the company?
Mr. Hobbs: Who said I did?
Laura Quinn: Hypothetically.
Mr. Hobbs: War and plunder, the two most reliable sources of income.
Laura Quinn: I didn't realize! Are we at war?

Movie Connections:

Features The League of Gentlemen (1960)

not to be confused with Robert DeNiro's lame movie from some years ago

What's really interesting about Michael Radford's "Flawless" is how it crosses two political issues, although it only focuses on them briefly. The whole issue of diamonds of course brings to mind the fact that South Africa's apartheid government used diamonds to sustain itself. But what Michael Caine talks about at the end brings to mind everything that Michael Moore's "Sicko" showed.

Of course, most of the movie does center on the heist planned by Caine and Demi Moore (who does an accent that sounds like a cross between English and American). And it is one neat heist. The part about avoiding the security cameras reminded me of the rotating light in "Topkapi".

All in all, definitely worth seeing.

PS: another movie called "Flawless" was a 1999 comedy wannabe starring Robert DeNiro as a homophobic cop and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a drag queen who suddenly have to cooperate. It was one of the lamest movies that I've ever seen.