Flawless.

"Rife with the lipstick traces of Inside Man, The League of Gentlemen (which it explicitly references), and countless other superior heist pictures, Flawless is the sort of movie that tends to get called 'enjoyably old-fashioned,' except that there's nothing enjoyable about it," writes Scott Foundas in the Voice.

"Michael Radford, the serious-minded director of 1984, Il Postino, Dancing at the Blue Iguana, among others, goes through the paces of the heist with precision, but without urgency, without tension, without excitement, without, even, clarity," writes Duncan Shepherd in the San Diego Reader. "In a caper film, that could be thought a sizable flaw."

Updated through 4/3.

"It wants to transport us to the innocent, carefree days of traditional British caper movies in the Age of Bond, when the game was the thing," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. "But since the product being marketed is diamonds mined in South Africa, it also feels obliged to tip its hat to the Age of Blood Diamond and affect a political consciousness."

"The central flaw in Flawless isn't in failing to provide its characters with backstories," writes the Stranger's Annie Wagner. "Plenty of heist films have gotten away with much flimsier motives. But giving the thieves social grievances serves only to undermine their greed - the one motive we can all understand."

Writing for Reverse Shot, Matt Connolly wonders "why a film that equates robbery with feminist revolt would then relegate its female protagonist to passive outsider status."

"Unlike so many formulaic heist procedurals that get bogged down in the 'how' of it all, Michael Radford's film rushes through the actual stealing to arrive at a third act that is more intrigued by the 'why,'" notes S James Snyder in the New York Sun.

"[Demi] Moore hasn't tackled a lead role since the turn of the century, and judging by her eminently forgettable work here, she hasn't spent that time painstakingly honing her chops," notes Nathan Rabin at the AV Club.

Update, 4/3: "It's as if Moore's collaboration with screenwriter Edward Anderson and director Michael Radford uses Quinn's criminal activity - and her chastened perspective on money, ambition, crime and jail time - to reflect the odd fortunes of her own career," suggests Armond White in the New York Press.

Posted by dwhudson at March 28, 2008 1:34 PM