FLAWLESS Caine & Demi Moore

FLAWLESS. Magnolia Pictures, 2007. Demi Moore, Michael Caine, Lambert Wilson, Nathaniel Parker. Director: Michael Radford.

   Any movie with this title ought to be good – better than good, in fact, maybe even perfect – but all I can tell you is that this movie is only better than good. It’s a story that takes place in England and inside the headquarters of the world’s largest diamond exchange.

   It’s also the story of a female executive (Demi Moore) who keeps getting passed over for promotions when in fact it is her suggestions the firm is often acting upon, and a janitor (Michael Caine) who has not only a plan but a motive (his wife’s death) to steal a handful of diamonds – they’ll never miss them, he tells her. All he needs is the combination, he says, and she’s the only one who can get it for him.

   Janitors, it turns out, are never noticed, even when they’re in the same room where confidences are being made, and they’re also privy to all kinds of information carelessly tossed into the trash. She’s being terminated, he tells her, or at least her job is. Sure enough, he’s right. And she’s in.

FLAWLESS Caine & Demi Moore

   There is a twist that I didn’t see coming that comes along next, and telling you even that is more than I think I should, but every other review you read is going to tell you this or more, and by the time you read the next post on this blog, probably tomorrow, you’ll have forgotten anyway.

   Any movie with Michael Caine in it is going to be good, if only for the scenes he’s in, and Demi Moore, looking noticeably older than she did in G. I. Jane, say (1997), is a much better actor than I think she’s given credit for.

   She always has this innate sense of vulnerability about her performances, even those in which she’s as strong a character as she is in G. I. Jane, which makes all her roles all the more interesting, even in films that (I admit) are not all that strong to begin with.

FLAWLESS Caine & Demi Moore

   Getting back to Michael Caine, though, he’s definitely the man with a plan – he’s been waiting for his chance at revenge for a considerable length of time, so obviously he’s had plenty of time to work out the details. Only his strong British accent – Cockney? I’m no expert – can possibly flaw his performance here, and then in terms of American ears only.

   I’m ambivalent about the framing device for this movie, but surprisingly enough – I hate prologues – it’s the ending which I found to be the weaker bookend, possibly a little too preachy to some minds?

   Well, perhaps. Not enough to mar the show, though, which is turn moderately clever and suspenseful, and which I plan to watch again for all of the little things I’m sure I missed — or maybe even to nitpick the flaws a little more thoroughly. The first time, though, I mostly sat back and enjoyed the top-notch performances of this movie’s top two stars.

FLAWLESS Caine & Demi Moore