Movie Review: Flawless

Mildly entertaining, yet stylish and filled with fun twists and turns, Flawless may not wholly reflect its title, but it is a rather polished piece of cinema. Complete with fantastic performances from both Demi Moore and Michael Caine, like the best heist films, Flawless keeps you guessing right until the very end.

With murmurs going around the office that her job is on the line, London Diamond hotshot Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) is offered a tantalizingly dangerous offer. It seems a janitor, Mr. Hobbs (Michael Cane), has found a hole in the powerful company's security system, and with the help of Quinn, he intends to exploit it. When Hobbs takes advantage of Quinn's assistance, stealing nearly every diamond in the vault, Quinn must do her best to not only keep her already jeopardized job, but her life as a free citizen.

Veteran director Michael Radford is obviously no stranger to the heist genre. Paying homage to classics like Kubrick's The Killing, with moments like an intense meeting between Moore and Caine at a racetrack, Flawless effortlessly plays to its genre conventions. With its strong, character driven motive, an intense, yet surprisingly simple setup and a finale that is filled with twists and turns, Flawless is a unexpectedly apt piece of cinema.

After directing Pacino in what critics' hailed as the actor's best performance in years, it should come as no surprise that Radford leads both Moore and Caine to top-notch performances. Caine, who has recently been having an onscreen renaissance, is perhaps the most flawless part of the picture. As sympathetic as he is cunning, the janitor will, more often than not, surprise viewers.

On the other hand, Demi Moore comes off as quite cold. In this case though, that's exactly what her character needs, after all Laura Quinn is a single, 38-year-old businesswoman working in the sixties. Could you blame her for having an attitude, struggling to survive in a man's world? Moore faces the difficult task of carrying audiences through some of the pictures' quieter moments, and her panged, lonely expression perfectly captures the character's emotional palate.

If there is one part of Flawless that approaches perfection, it is the film's slick and stylish cinematography. Completely encapsulating the cerebral, business-like environment of a male dominated corporation, London Diamond is gorgeously lit and photographed. The smoky atmosphere not only helps fill the screen, but also lends in recreating the not so distant time period.

While the aged makeup Moore sports to create a present day image of Laura Quinn doesn't quite look old enough for a scene taking place forty-eight years after the climax of the story, this and the few other flaws that plague Radford's heist film, don't stop the picture from being a thoroughly invigorating experience. If you're a fan of the genre, make sure not to miss this diamond in the rough.

- Joe Russo (www.MoviePulse.net)