Flawless (2007) [PG-13] ****

It’s 1960, and American businesswoman and Oxford graduate Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) has worked for the London Diamond Corporation (LON DI) for a decade. Just when she thought her brilliance and hard work would be recognized, and she would be the first woman promoted to managing director, she’s once again passed over. She also discovers that her employment contract will not be renewed, and worse, she’s not employable anywhere in the banking industry due to a conflict of interest clause in her contract. Although angry and frustrated, Laura is outraged when she’s approached by Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine), night janitor at LON DI, with a plan to steal a small quantity of diamonds to secure his comfortable retirement, and her independence. However, the plan seems simple and foolproof, so she agrees to be his partner, and obtain the vault codes. Of course, Hobbs has not shared with Laura his true (and very complicated) motive for the theft. And so, the following morning, when Laura believes that Hobbs has successfully pulled off the diamond theft, the vault is opened and it is discovered that the entire two tons of diamond inventory is missing.

While a story about two heartless and reviled institutions (diamond brokering and insurance underwriting) getting their comeuppance from two very different and apparent powerless individuals, would seem to be a winner, sadly Flawless is flawed. There are no thrills, anxiety or tension around the execution of the plan, and virtually the entire film takes place inside the LON DI offices. There are endless meetings of old men in black suits. In addition, the film is deceiving as well as boring; the theft of the large, blue-white, flawless South African Star diamond depicted on the movie posters and DVD covers is an accidental afterthought of the main theft. If you expect a heist-action-thriller with the entertainment value of Ocean’s Eleven or The Italian Job you will be very disappointed. On the other hand, if you enjoyed The Bank Job or Inside Man, you may be satisfied with Flawless. 

Labels: crime, drama, thriller
IMDb 67/100
MetaScore (critics=57, viewers=71)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=57, viewers=66)
Blu-ray