Most heist movies of the last 10 years tend to share the similar done-to-death storyline as they fail to come up with any originality. Such films mostly rely on extravagant special effects and over-the-top action sequences to capture the audience's attention. Of course there are a few exceptions and a majority of these exceptions tend to be gems. Such is Radford's 'Flawless'. Of course merely labelling it as a heist movie wouldn't be doing justice for the depth of the story exceeds beyond the robbery.
The opening sequence of a diamond being extracted from the African mud and then it's transformation till it lands on a woman's finger may look familiar but it doesn't feel stale especially how it gets straight to the point in the following sequence where a pompous young journalist meets an aged Laura Quinn for an interview. The sequence thereafter takes us back to 60's London. Radford cleverly tackles themes of sexism, blood diamond, class etc by incorporating them withing the story and never sounding preachy. He deals with some heavy issues in a cleverly subtle way.
Through scenes in the bank, he also distinguishes the contrast between the status of men and women in 60's London. It doesn't feel to be such a long time ago yet it is surprising that Quinn is the only woman in the bank (and perhaps the world as is hinted) to work as an administrator while each and every one of her colleagues are men. Clearly she's a woman trying to survive in a man's world and continues to struggle as she is continuously passed over for promotion and soon learns that her employment at the bank will be terminated shortly. However, when the janitor comes up with an unexpected proposition, she reluctantly sees a way out.
'Flawless' is both story driven and character driven while being atmospheric. The writing is solid. The witty dialogues are loaded with dry and sarcastic humour and there's a philosophical element to most of them. The characters are wonderfully developed and the story moves at a smooth pace. The 60s atmosphere is well created and I liked how it contrasted with modern day London.
Caine and Moore are in top form. Caine's gentlemanlike Mr. Hobbes is not your typical criminal. He's polite, charming but eventually the viewer sees that things are not as they seemed. Michael Caine easily plays his part with élan. Demi Moore is fantastic too. Many have complained her accent bouncing back and forth between British and American but that makes sense because Quinn is an American who's been living in London for more than fifteen years. Thus it is believable that her accent would be distorted. Her reaction in the scenes with Hobbes and Finch are remarkable. Some of the best sequences in 'Flawless' are the ones between Moore and Caine and Moore and Wilson. Lambert Wilson delivers a very good performance in a strong supporting role.
I didn't know much about the film before seeing it. Unfortunately, such movies do not get the deserved attention during its release but I hope it gradually gets the well deserved recognition. What caught my attention prior to viewing was the odd but seemingly interesting pairing of Caine and Moore and when I finally got to see this refreshing gem, I was more than glad with a more than satisfying film experience. I've already included this little film treasure in my shelf of DVDs.
