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Capone Says FLAWLESS Isn’t!

Published at:  Mar 28, 2008 11:28:32 PM CDT

Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Y’know, unless you’re making a film that you know is going to blow people’s minds and redefine cinema, don’t call it FLAWLESS, because that just gives assholes like me an excuse to put together a headline like that one.

That goes double for anyone making a Demi Moore film.

Take it away, Capone.



FLAWLESS
Hey y'all. Capone in Chicago here.

I feel a bit guilty for assuming that just because a new movie has Demi Moore in it that it's some degree of crap. The fact is that since her sexy appearance in the other wise vapid and awful CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, Moore has actually done some decent work. If there was anything wrong with Mr. Brooks, it wasn't her performance; I actually liked the audacity of the film. And although the ensemble work in Bobby was uneven, she was quite good. So casting her opposite Michael Caine in a film by Michael Radford (Il Postino; Pacino's Merchant of Venice) should have inspired more confidence that FLAWLESS is a pretty great little movie. Unlike THE BANK JOB, this heist film is not based on a true story, and weirdly enough the far superior FLAWLESS has a little bit in common with January's miserable MAD MONEY (only it doesn't suck horse balls). Both film suppose that a member or members of a cleaning crew would be able to carry out the theft of millions of dollars in cash/merchandise.

Set in London circa 1960, the film stars Moore as Laura Quinn, an American (with a hint of a British accent) who has worked her way up the corporate ladder at the London Diamond Corp. Or, should I say, she's worked her way up as far as she can go in 1960. She's been passed over several times for a promotion to be a director at the company, and it's an indignity that she has buried deep inside. Her hard work and long hours have left her no time for romance or family, and her ideas about how to deal with certain clients are routinely stolen by the higher ups. The always-commanding Joss Ackland plays the head of the company. She is approached one day by Mr. Hobbs (Caine), a member of the night janitorial staff who proposes the theft of the company's vault of a portion (enough to fit in his thermos) of its diamond supply. He needs her help acquiring the ever-changing combination to the vault, and the rest of the plan is devised and carried out by Hobbs. The plan is that no one will ever notice the diamonds are missing. But by the time Hobbs has done the deed (off camera, naturally), all the diamonds are missing--every last one of them. And when a ransom note for $200 million arrives, it becomes clear that this is an inside job and the company goes into lockdown.

It becomes clear that Hobbs is up to something more than simply getting a nice supplemental pension from this heist, and as Moore digs deeper into his past and attempts to uncover how tons of diamonds were taken out of the building, she discovers his true motives. I particularly liked French actor Lambert Wilson (from the second and third MATRIX films) as the lead private investigator brought in by the company's underwriter. Even if you aren't guilty, his line of questioning makes you feel like you've done something wrong in your life. He's great. But it's Moore and Caine who really mesh well together. What starts out as two like-minded individuals working toward a common goal becomes two equally smart people in a battle of wits. And for all Laura's cool, stoic behavior in board meetings and client dinners, it's fun to watch her so rattled at the hands of the seemingly gentle old widower.

FLAWLESS is bookended by scenes of Laura (Moore in old lady makeup) presumably in the present day telling her story to a reporter, so the bulk of the film is told in flashback. The film's only major flaw is the very end, when we find out what Laura has been up to since the theft and whether or not she ever got her cut of the loot. With one final preposterous scene, the film is almost tanked. But the simple fact is I liked this movie so much, I was willing to forget--if not forgive--the stupid ending. This is a simply told, tense, beautifully acted piece that brings Moore a big step closer to respectability as an actress. I've always been rooting for her for some bizarre and slightly erotic reason, but now I can actually point to a film in this phase of her career and say, "See what she can do?" Sure she had Michael Caine to make her look good, but some of my favorite scenes in this film are just her alone in her office figuring out her next movie.

Capone


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