Flashpoint Mexico

LOVE AMONG THIEVES is by and large the last bonafide Audrey Hepburn film, much to the chagrin of many fans who, depending on their opinion of her later work, usually feel her swan song should have been ROBIN AND MARIAN in 1976. I myself rather liked THEY ALL LAUGHED, the film Hepburn made six years before this one, so I do not entirely agree that she made nothing worthy of her after the 70s. That being said, LOVE AMONG THIEVES does leave a lot of be desired.

The story is unabashedly light and airy. It clearly acts as a homage movie, referencing lots of Hepburn's former work, particularly CHARADE. In fact, the plot lifts a lot from CHARADE, even whole sections of dialogue, a gimmick that got old quickly. Unlike CHARADE, the movie does not balance out its romantic comedy with suspense well; the villains are never particularly threatening. Sometimes, they're downright incompetent.

However, this movie is so unpretentious and even easygoing that it's hard to dislike it. Hepburn and Robert Wagner don't have the best romantic chemistry, but they play their roles well and with tongue firmly in cheek. Had Hepburn's last film been the dreadful BLOODLINE, I would lament. In that regard, we are lucky. I would have have preferred her final film been something more clever or grand, but as far as that goes, LOVE AMONG THIEVES, slight and silly as it is, will have to do.