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Quint reviews the new Michael Caine British Heist Flick FLAWLESS!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a quick review of a movie you probably haven't heard of before. In my recent undercover infiltration of the American Film Market I read about this flick called FLAWLESS. I was immediately pulled in by the premise and cast. Michael Caine stars in this heist movie set in 1960 London.
What a great idea, I thought. Outside of the OCEAN'S movies we are sorely missing those great heist movies of the '60s and '70s. Michael Caine himself starred in many great ones, including the underseen, but fucking great GAMBIT with Shirley MacClaine. What a great throwback.
I know this sounds like I'm setting it up to trash it, but I did enjoy the movie quite a bit. There are certain aspects I wish I had seen in this movie and it fell below the possibilities of the idea, but on the whole it's an entertaining film that doesn't feel like anything else out in theaters these days.
One of my main disappointments came with the lead character not being Michael Caine. Thank God he's in the movie for more than just a cameo... he has a big character and an important one, at that, but he's not the lead. Instead, you have Demi Moore playing one of the only females working in the executive offices of the world's largest diamond retailer. An American living in London... but strangely enough she has a British accent which drops in and out... Although, I have to give them credit because they did try to explain her dodgy accent by talking about how she's been living in England since she was a girl, so having a sort of half-British half-American accent thing works.
Of course, being a businesswoman in the '60s she's routinely passed over for promotions, coming up with great ideas that she never gets the credit for, etc. In other words, she'd be easy to convince to steal a ton of raw diamonds by the man with the plan. This man is, of course, Michael Caine, a janitor who has been working in this building for decades and is about to retire with little more than a small pension and a clap on the back.
I won't say much more as it'd be criminal of me to give away the step by step of a good heist film, even if the film is a bit flawed (despite what the title says).
The key element that is missing from this movie, the one thing I missed more than any other, the one thing that you can find in the best of the best of the classics, be it THE ITALIAN JOB, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY or THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR... and that's fun. Just plain old fun.
The heist in FLAWLESS is smart, the tension is great, the odds stacked up against our would-be robbers, but there's an element of fun that missing from most of the movie. You can see it pop up during the the actual job, but for the rest of the movie there's no sense of fun at all. It's entertaining, of course, and written well and acted well... just lacking that fun.
It's good to see Caine playing such an average joe role in this kind of picture again. He brings as much warmth and intelligence as you'd expect from him. Moore does fine, she's just not as interesting to me as Caine and his character are. Although, she does have a really good relationship with Lambert Wilson who plays an insurance investigator she's assigned to help solve the heist she herself was involved in. Some good, subtle work between the two.
As of now, this film doesn't have US distribution, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it picked up by someone like Yari Group or some place similar for a small theatrical run. I really hope this doesn't end direct to DVD. It deserves to be seen on the big screen even if it's not a perfect movie.
Got more reviews in the pipe-line, squirts! Be back soon!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
quint@aintitcool.com
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Nov 14, 2006 8:34:52 PM CST
Wonder if the guy who picked that title thought about..
by the wrong guy
...the reviews? I doubt it.
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She still makes movies?
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MCMLXXVI IS A WANKER
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Caine and Demi...together again at last. Because we the public demanded it.
Let's hope we don't see her minge this time.
Unless it's in a...half light.
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So rental it is...
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we are the self preservation, society!
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You ever going to get around to deciding the Superman returns contest? It's been about 4 months since the deadline.
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PLEASE!!! britain isnt a country - its an ISLAND. there is NO SUCH THING as a british accent. scottish, welsh and ENGLISH accent all differ WILDLY (more than US and English for example)
please yanks - learn the globe :) there are more places than NORTH AMERICA in the world :) -
More difference than say the Creole-drenched slanguage of Louisiana and the utterly-incomprehensible Maine accents the older folks up there speak? If you think you know what an Arkansas accent sounds like because youve heard Bill Clinton speak, really, check your ignorance at the door.
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Dude, this is a movie forum, I know, but your comment pissed me off. Fact is, Li75's comment isn't a conceit, it's a fact. The U.K. constitutes 4 seperate and distinct nations. As such, the 'British' accent doesn't exist. If you were to say 'One of the British accents' you'de be more correct. You mention American 'accents' but America is one nation. Li75 was talking about a national identity. Whilst a Scottish person is in effect British, his or her accent is Scottish. An English person is also British but their accent is English. It's not that difficult is it? There are many American people who aren't stupid, but you are not one of them.
I would like to see the movie this forum is concerned with. -
The Coens are rumored to be doing "Gambit" with Jennifer Anniston and Colin Firth. I suppose they're good choices. The original is so much fun. Hopefully, they'll be able to make it work.
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lmao :) conceited eh? im not gonna get into a slanging match - it would be like picking on a small child with you im affraid :)
and btw - yes our accent differ more than that! in fact A LOT MORE! in the uk u can drive less than 50 miles and get a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ACCENT (check out manchester and liverpool for example). its maybe the culture of our country (there is yoghurt in my fridge with more culture than in the US lol)
this is why englsih cinema usually pisses me off. foreigners only ever hear southern accents, and usually posh ones (cos to be honest maybe 5% of our population actually speak like people do in our films) PEOPLE IN ENGLAND DONT SPEAK LIKE THE QUEEN! (or like people in the simpsons/family guy lol! and why do all english people in family guy have bad teeth lol - we have free dentists over here!)
sorry but yet another ignorant reply from one of our cousins from over the pond {sigh} -
I'm a great lover of British arts and entertainments, but, goddamn, your brand of dismissive condescension is precisely the sort of thing leads so many Americans to believe the Brits are bunch of stuck-up wankers.
How is it, exactly, that the U.S. has no culture? -
Man, you started off okay so I felt compelled to back you up but now you've gotten a little radical.
Captain Mal, it would be pretty shallow for any number of Americans to assume the existence of a national trait simply from isolated experiences of "stuck up wanker"ness, wouldn't you say? But I do agree with you.
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that was a joke that actually comes from an american comedian. but obviously taken the wrong way.
we arent stuck up in any way - im just trying to put accross that not everyone in the uk speaks like the queen or has the same accent. end of story.
and u do have some culture - the native americans did have a great culture before it was all but killed out - and most of your other culture comes from the the settlers - ie. french, italian, elglish, spanish and german cultures all are quite strong in the US. but they are mainly inherant from their native countries. plus your country is only a baby compared to most of the rest of the world (in terms of how long its been around).
i was simply pointing out a lot of americans are very narrow minded and not 'worldly wise'
anyway - its not aimed at all or even most americans but at people like JackRabbitSlim who decided to have a go. it was never aimed at a slanging match lol!
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